RELIGION, REFORM AND SCIENCE. THE BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN SOCIOLOGY (Vallas, reform es tudomany. Az amerikai szociologia kezdetei)

The paper analyzes the historical circumstances of the emergence of American sociology in late 19th and early 20th centuries. It doesn't aspire to give a thorough overview of the period, but instead it focuses on factors that gave a special context to the first decades of American sociology. The author analyzes the interrelationships of religion, social reform movements, evolutionary theories and the processes of scientific legitimation in the establishment of sociology in America. She argues that the early phase of American sociology was characterized by an intellectual milieu in which theoretical approaches and demarcation strategies were contested, yet which, taken together, strengthened the discipline and added to its diversity. The paper traces the process whereby American sociology went from being a heterogeneous, fluid area that incorporated different concepts, theories and aspirations, to being a firm and recognized university discipline.