Contested Canon: Simmel Scholarship at Columbia and the New School

• Published in: The American sociologist 1998-07, Vol.29 (2), p.4-18
• Main Author: Jaworski, Gary D.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: American philosophy; Empiricism; Georg Simmel; Historical analysis; History and organization of sociology; History and present state; History, theory and methodology; Merton, Robert King; New York City, New York; Observational research; Phenomenology; Scholarship; Simmel, Georg; Social conflict; Social research; Social structures; Social theories; Sociologists; Sociology; Structuralism; Traditions; U.S.A; Universities; Writing
• ISSN: 0003-1232; 1936-4784
• DOI: 10.1007/s12108-998-1024-9

The history of sociology exhibits what might be called, after Gallie (1956), an "essentially contested" canon. The key figures, sacred texts, and central ideas that constitute the sociological tradition are inherently in dispute. This essay examines the "contested canon" within a historical framework to provide at least a partial explanation for the restricted interpretation of Georg Simmel as a structuralist sociologist. The sites of this contest are two New York City institutions, Columbia University and the New School for Social Research, both of which offered mid-century readings of Simmel's works. At Columbia in the mid-1950s, Robert K. Merton advanced a structural reading of Simmel's work. During the same broad period, the New School's Albert Salomon championed a phenomenological reading of Simmel in his classes and seminars. Despite penetrating insights into Simmel's links to the phenomenological tradition, Salomon's interpretation has had less salience than the approach advanced by Merton. The differential success of these competing interpretations is explained in large measure by the institutionalization and dominance of Merton's research tradition relative to Salomon's.