Knowing those who know: the sociologies of sociologies

Abstract

The aim of this article is to propose a theoretical approach for the sociology of sociology which results in two basic practical tools.To start off, the article puts forward a general criticism of the sociology of sociology that takes its inspiration from the classic observations of Merton and Gouldner regarding the improvisation used when carrying out work on the sociology of sociology. After this, we propose two theoretical tools, both of which are based on the ample tradition of the sociology of sociology, for carrying out work in this field: «historical-practical criteria» and «minimum research workforce». These tools make it possible to provide an answer to three key questions that are very often glossed over —How does a particular author see himself? How do others see him? From what viewpoint is he actually looking?— to help us avoid the problems we have analysed critically in the first part of the article.