P. A. SOROKIN’S “SOCIOLOGY OF REVOLUTION” IN THE REVIEWS BY CONTEMPORARIES

Abstract

Background. More and more works appear in “forty studies” in which, in determining the contribution to sociological and historical science, a scientist with his plans, ideas and theories breaks out of the historical context in connection with the expansion of the source base of life and scientific activity of the 20th century Russian- American sociologist Pitirim Aleksandrovich Sorokin (1889–1968). Today there is an urgent need to “return” P. A. Sorokin in his time. The stated problems are aimed at identifying assessments of the sociologist’s scientific heritage by his contemporaries. In particular, we will talk about the attitude of Russian and American scientists to the first major monograph by P. A. Sorokin “Sociology of Revolution”, published in 1925 in the United States of America. Materials and methods. The implementation of the research task was achieved on the basis of published documents presented in published volumes of the collected works of P. A. Sorokin. A special place is occupied by peer reviews of the book by P. A. Sorokin’s “Sociology of Revolution”, as well as epistolary sources. The methodological basis of this study is the principle of historicism, requiring the study of events in development and in accordance with the specific historical situation. The methodological base of the research is represented by both general scientific methods and especially historical methods. The analysis and synthesis method was used to formulate criteria for evaluating reviews; the comparative historical method allowed to identify the nature of the reviews of the analyzed work of P. A. Sorokin. Results. The author analyzed reviews and letters to the sociologist of American and Russian scientists on the “Sociology of the Revolution”. The main points that were addressed by most reviewers in the reviews were identified and disclosed. The influence of professional assessments of the sociologist’s scientific activities on personal relationships between P. A. Sorokin and D. A. Lutokhin, former compatriots, was also demonstrated in an article. Conclusions. The dominant number of critical assessments of scientific work P. A. Sorokin’s “Sociology of Revolution” was revealed in the course of the work.

Keywords

• p. a. sorokin
• d. a. lutokhin
• “system of sociology”