Rehabilitating Romanian Sociology – An Unembellished History
The author of the article analyzes the myth of re-establishing Romanian sociology in 1965. After a short review of the conditions and consequences of distruction of sociology, which followed after a set of measures introduced in 1948 by the new communist authorities, the author shows and proves that there has actually been two processes of rehabilitation. During the first (1954-1959) they tried to prudently reinstate monograhism, without exposing too strongly its founder, professor Dimitrie Gusti and his school of sociology. The author also examines the retrieve of the fieldwork, following after treading down the first initiative, started by the Institute of Philosophy of the Romanian Academy, in 1962, a process that has never been blocked again. The author shows that the year 1965 marked the rehabilitation of sociology in Romania, because that is the year when Nicolae Ceauşescu came to power, and needed this additional source of legitimacy.
Keywords: Dimitrie Gusti, monographic sociology, fieldwork, institutionalization of sociology, sociological education, mythologizing