“Foreword” to the First American edition of “Community and Society” by F. T?nnies. Transl. from Eng., notes and comments by N.A. Golovin

Abstract

The currently being prepared for publication “Foreword” to F. T?nnies’ work “Community and Society” was written by Harvard University professor P.A. Sorokin (1889–1968), who was a Russian/American sociologist. It was first published alongside the English translation of T?nnies’ book, issued in New York back in 1940. According to P.A. Sorokin, T?nnies’ community and society dichotomy represents a universal categorical description of two opposing forms of social organization. They appear in the social evolution of various civilizations and in the writings of their founders. P.A. Sorokin considered T?nnies to be one of the contemporary successors to the tradition of describing society in such a way. T?nnies’ book was ahead of its time. It is mentioned in “Foreword” that the first German edition, published in 1887, did not attract readers’ attention. However, when the 20th century came around — this book became a point of reference for German social scientists, as well as for educated individuals among the general public. “Foreword” mentions the reason for its rapid increase in popularity, which turned out to be a rapid and widespread transition from “community” to a “society” based on contractual relations. P.A. Sorokin points out that T?nnies created his essay during a time when the “Gesellschaft type of society” was “triumphantly rooting out the Gemeinschaft”. However, even back then T?nnies highlighted the shortcomings of capitalism as a form of social life. The American edition of T?nnies’ book, published in 1940, was its first complete translation to a foreign language (the 1927 Japanese edition had been shortened). P.A. Sorokin’s “Foreword” to this edition marked the beginning of this writing’s worldwide fame. This is the first time “Foreword” has ever been published in Russian. It was not included in the 2002 Russian edition of T?nnies’ book. This publication, however, makes up for such an omission in theoretical sociology. The publication together with commentary has been prepared by N.A. Golovin.