Abstract
This article applies Norbert Elias’s ‘processual-relational approach’ to an empirical case: the influential Leicester Department of Sociology between 1954 and 1982. Based on 42 qualitative interviews and extensive archival materials, we identify two phases: the early phase of cohesion is characterised by a strong sense of purpose and a growing influence on British sociology. The second phase is characterised by social and intellectual fragmentation. In explaining this reversal, we argue that a critical juncture of youth rebellion around 1968 provided the portents of an anti-authoritarian civilisational trend, which increasingly put strains on the established power nexus: the autocratic leadership model embodied by the department’s inspirational leader, Ilya Neustadt.
Originalsprog | Engelsk |
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Tidsskrift | Sociology |
Vol/bind | 51 |
Udgave nummer | 6 |
Sider (fra-til) | 1186-1204 |
Antal sider | 19 |
ISSN | 0038-0385 |
DOI | |
Status | Udgivet - 1 dec. 2017 |