Anthropological-sociological conferences

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The anthropological-sociological conferences were three scientific conferences that were organized in post-war Germany on the initiative of Leopold von Wiese by the German Society for Sociology (DGS). They took place in 1949, 1951 and 1954. Their aim was the interdisciplinary exchange between researchers, with particular emphasis on the collaboration between sociologists and scientific anthropologists . This was based on an understanding of science from the time of National Socialism .

Topics and participants

In addition to the often expressed fear of “massaging” modern society, the key theme of the conference contributions was the relationship between “facility” and “environment”, which had been decided in favor of the “race” factor under National Socialism. Ilse Schwidetzky asked about the connections between population increase and intelligence, about the population-biological significance of “mixing and population processes” as well as about laws in the “life cycles of peoples”. All in all, many lectures showed the effort to establish a biological foundation for individual character traits and social structures. In their analysis of the conference contributions, Irmgard Pinn and Michael Nebelung recognize connecting lines “in the search for relationships between race and soul”.

In addition to Ilse Schwidetzky, the speakers included the sociologists Wilhelm Emil Mühlmann , Ludwig Heyde , Heinz Sauermann and Hans Freyer , the anthropologists Friedrich Keiter , Otmar von Verschuer , the legal philosopher Carl August Emge and the philosopher and later ZDF director Karl Holzamer . According to Pinn and Nebelung, the presentations demonstrate “a comprehensive continuity that ignores all political and social upheavals”, and most of the participants had already worked as scientists for the Nazi regime. Above all, the dominance of racial anthropologists is surprising .

Returning emigrants were only sparsely represented at the conferences, only Max Horkheimer and Alexander Rustow took part in the discussion. According to Carsten Klingemann , the latter should by no means be assumed that through their participation they consciously helped to preserve dubious traditions in German post-war sociology. Nevertheless, he does not want to completely contradict the résumé of Pinn and Nebelung, which states: “Not because of internal criticism and refutation, but obviously with the retirement or the death of their representatives, ideas such as those presented and discussed at the anthropological-sociological conferences disappeared were, from academic sociology. "

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Irmgard Pinn; Michael Nebelung: Continuity through displacement: The "anthropological-sociological conferences" 1949-1954. In: Hans-Joachim Hoffmann-Nowotny (Ed.); German Society for Sociology (DGS) (Hrsg.): Culture and Society. Joint congress of the German, Austrian and Swiss sociological societies, Zurich 1988; Contributions from research committees, sections and ad hoc groups. Seismo-Verlag, Zurich 1989, ISBN 3-908239-01-X , pp. 724–727, here p. 725.
  2. ^ Carsten Klingemann: Sociology and Politics. Social science expert knowledge in the Third Reich and in the early West German post-war period . VS, Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2009, ISBN 3-531-15064-2 , p. 327.
  3. ↑ Irmgard Pinn; Michael Nebelung: Continuity through displacement: The "anthropological-sociological conferences" 1949-1954. In: Hans-Joachim Hoffmann-Nowotny (Ed.); German Society for Sociology (DGS) (Hrsg.): Culture and Society. Joint congress of the German, Austrian and Swiss sociological societies, Zurich 1988; Contributions from research committees, sections and ad hoc groups. Seismo-Verlag, Zurich 1989, ISBN 3-908239-01-X , pp. 724–727, here p. 726.