Main trends of research in the social and human ... - unesdoc - Unesco

102 P. F. Lazarsfeld
Malewski provides many examples which make his argument more vivid than
can be seen in a brief summary.54 Still, it is dubious whether the majority of
Marxists will be satisfied with his rendition. But the effort is interesting because
it corresponds to a general trend among sociologists to link the rich but discursive
writings of an earlier period to modern styles of work.55
5. Mutualpenetration. A mutual penetration of Western and Eastern sociology
can be expected. For Communist countries, it will be necessary to understand
the political difficulties still to be overcome. Thus, for instance, a seemingly
technical idea, such as cybernetics, has only recently become acceptable. I have
before me an East German book of more than 500 pages, explaining cybernetic
ideas to the general public. I quote from the index of names the authors who are
mentioned more than five times.56 The highest quotation score goes properly to
mathematicians - 48 for W. R. Ashby and 38 for N. Wiener. But Communist
classics come close: 34 for Marx, 20 for Engels and 16 for Lenin. And even
Chairman Ulbricht scores 10.57
The reception of Eastern ideas by the West is likely to be somewhat simpler
because the quest for theory is currently quite intense. Again, a single book might
be used as an indicator. Two American sociologists (Bendix and Lipset) publish-
ed a reader on Class, Status and Power in 1953. It was a great success and in
1966 a new edition was needed. If one compares the two tables of contents, one
notices the following differences: omitted from the second edition are 16 papers
from the first which report detailed results of studies done in American commu-
nities, based on rather simple scales or survey questionnaires. The new edition
includes 15 macrosociological papers on social structure in foreign countries.
The section on theories of class structure is greatly extended, and four Commu-
nist authors are represented. Perhaps the most characteristic change can be
found in the dedications. The first edition was dedicated to Paul K. Hatt, an
able young survey technician who had just died. The new edition is dedicated
to Stanislaw Ossowski, ‘a true scholar and teacher’.
There remains one element of rather acrimonious debate. But it, too, upon
closer analysis, may finally be simply a point of misunderstanding. Even the
most convinced concrete Marxist sociologists reproach their Western counter-
parts, especially Americans, with being the servants of imperialist and capitalist
masters. This seems rather a paradoxical position in view of two facts. Marxists
do not hesitate to express the hope that their own work will be useful to the
Communist Party in fulfilling its task of planning and guiding the development
of their country. At the same time, Western sociologists have considerable
contempt for applied sociology, and in the United States, it is a well document-
ed fact that professional social scientists are left of the political center.58
This web of seeming contradiction can be disentangled if one distinguishes
between manifest and latent utilization. Communist writers are well aware
that only a small minority of Western sociologists work for industry or for a
governmental agency. What they mean is that by the selection of their topics
and the way they write textbooks, they are unconsciously working for preserva-
tion of the status quo. It is exactly this ambivalent position of the Western