BRITISH SOCIOLOGYBritain from its origins to the present day, and
ends by noting possible implications for its future.
FOUNDATIONThe discipline of sociology in Great Britain has a
history that stretches back to the early 1900s.
Martin White and the London School of Econo-
mics (LSE) figure prominently in the development
of British sociology. In 1907, White effectively
founded the study of sociology in Britain by invest-
ing about £1,000 to fund a series of lectures at the
LSE, as well as to establish the Sociological Society.
The first annual report of the society indicated 408
members distributed throughout Great Britain,
and thirty-two overseas. Early members of the
society included an interesting variety of promi-
nent public and literary figures, such as H.H.
Asquith, Hilaire Belloc, and the Bishop of Stepney;
British academics including Bertrand Russell, Gra-
ham Wallas, and Beatrice Webb; as well as interna-
tional academics such as Emile Durkheim and
Ferdinand Tonnies, among others. Also in 1907,
White gave the University of London £10,000 for a
permanent chair in sociology to be located at LSE.
White also donated additional funds for lectureships,
bursaries, and scholarships in sociology. Because
of White’s prominence in supporting these early
initiatives, Dahrendorf has argued that ‘‘it is not
too much to say that one man, Martin White,
established the discipline of sociology in Britain...
Moreover, sociology came to life at LSE.’’ (Dahrendorf
1995, p. 103).
Despite this promising start, by 1945 the LSE
remained the only university with a department of
sociology in Britain. Several reasons have been
identified for this late development. Among these
was the long-standing opposition to the creation of
sociology as a university subject by the universities
of Oxford and Cambridge, which were at the top
of the educational establishment in Britain. In
addition, two other disciplines had claims on simi-
lar social research that predated the emergence of
sociology. Anthropology and political economy
both focused on social research that suited the
interests of Britain at the time. Studies of foreign
shores while Britain was still a major empire was of
greater interest than social research focused on
issues closer to home. Empirically based scholar-
ship on the political economy was preferable to
the theoretical emphasis of many sociologists be-
cause of its perceived lack of application to the real
world. The purported lack of credibility of those
promoting the study of sociology, many of whom
were either located on the outside or on the
margins of academe, did not lend a helping hand
to the development of sociology either. But, the
most persistent obstacle was the hierarchical social
structure of British society that prevented the
effective interrogation of its social structures
(Albrow 1989).EXPANSIONFollowing World War II, the fortunes of sociology
changed dramatically, in line with the social changes
in Britain at this time. In these years there was a
general feeling of optimism regarding possible
changes in social relationships as well as increasing
expectations of education and science to create a
better life. In this context the study of sociology
represented a commitment to social reorganiza-
tion. ‘‘There was a demand [for sociology]...
irrespective of what was on offer’’ (Albrow
1989, p. 202).Around this same time, Edward Shils moved
to London from the University of Chicago. His
teaching of classical European sociology has been
described ‘‘as magnificent a professorial presenta-
tion of the social science scenery as could be found
in the Western world,’’ and had a great deal to do
with shaping and inspiring the first generation of
British sociologists (Halsey 1999). This first gen-
eration of ‘‘career sociologists’’ in Britain complet-
ed their education at the LSE between 1950 and- They included: J.A. Banks, Olive Banks,
Michael Banton, Basil Bernstein, Percy Cohen,
Norman Dennis, Ralf Dahrendorf, A.H. Halsey,
David Lockwood, Cyril Smith, J.H. Smith, Asher
Tropp, and John Westergaard. All became promi-
nent sociologists in Britain by the mid-1960s. Mem-
bers of this cohort have described the sociological
analysis they developed as grounded in their own
experiences of social inequality and informed by
critical reflections on Marx, Parsons, and Popper
(Halsey 1985; Dahrendorf 1995). Two of the many
publications from members of this group are:
David Lockwood’s Some Remarks on The Social
System, published in 1956, and Dahrendorf’s Class