contemporary relevance of karl mannheim

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Northeastern Political Science ssociation

The Reconstitution of Political Life: The Contemporary Relevance of Karl Mannheim'sPolitical ProjectAuthor(s): David Kettler and Volker MejaSource: Polity, Vol. 20, No. 4 (Summer, 1988), pp. 623-647Published by: Palgrave Macmillan Journals

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The

Reconstitution

f

Political ife:

The

Contemporary

elevance f

Karl Mannheim's

olitical

roject*

David Kettler

Trent

niversity

Volker

Meja

Memorial

niversity

f

Newfoundland

The

deeply

nterested

esponse

o

Mannheim's

ork

mong

ertain

Weimar

eformist

ocialists

rompts

reconsideration

f

his

political

thought.

he

ffinity

etween

hem

rises ut

of

similar

onceptions

of synthesis

s a

practical,

rovisional

ormalization

f

continuing

oppositions

ather han s a transcendent

econciliation

f

contradic-

tions.

n this

espect,

annheim's

ociology f knowledge

esembles

the

onstitutionalheories

f

such

ocialist

awyers

s

Franz

L.

Neumannnd Ernst raenkel. uchtheoriesf mperfectynthesisre

again

relevant

n the

ontemporary

tate

f

critical

olitical

heory.

David Kettler

s

Professor

f

Political

tudies

t

Trent

niversity.

e

is

co-author

f

KarlMannheim

1984)

nd

co-editor

f

KarlMann-

heim's

tructures

f

Thinking

1982)

nd

Conservatism

1986).

His

recent

ublications

n

political heory

nd the

aw nclude

Works

Community

nd Workers'

rganizations:

Central

roblemn

Weimar abour

Law,

Economy

nd

Society

August

984)

nd

The

ReconstitutionftheWelfaretate:A Latent ocial-Democratic

Legacy,

Law

&

Society

eview

1987).

Volker

Meja

is

Professorf Sociology

t

the

Memorial

niversityf

Newfoundland.

o-author

f

KarlMannheim

nd

co-editor

f

Mann-

heim's

tructures

f

Thinking

nd

Conservatism,

e s

also

co-editor

of

Modern

German

ociology

1987)

nd the

orthcoming

nowledge

and

Politics:

he

Sociology

f

Knowledge ispute.

*This

aper

s

part

f

ongoing

esearchunded

y

he

ocialSciences

nd

Humanities

Research ouncil f

Canada,

s

well

s

by

heBard

College

enter,

he

Memorial

niver-

sity

f

Newfoundland,

ndTrent

niversity.

e

re

grateful

o

these

nstitutions

or heir

support.








624

The

Reconstitution

f

Political

ife

Contemporary

olitical

heory

as

given

p

on the

onjunction

etween

reasonndrevolution,'ven riticalhinkerspposed osociallyomi-

nant

orms f

knowledge

nd conduct

re no

longerooking

or

brupt

transformativeranscendences

n

thought

r

practice.

he

inguistic

urn

in

critical

heory,

or

nstance,

recludes

otalistic

egations

nd t ntails

recognizingationality

n

the onstitutiveocial

knowledge

f

the

xist-

ing

order

nd therefore

mplies

ecognizing

roblems

n

communication

and

exchange

etweenhe stablishednd thedesired

rders f

things.

No

one

any

onger opes

or

otality.

nstead

f

tracking

ialectical

on-

sciousness

o

a

point

f

total

verturn,

riticalheoristsremore

ikely

o

speakofrecoveringplacefor ontinuousndcumulativeritical is-

course

nd for

ustained

olitical

ction

gainst redominantatterns.

There

s

renewed eed o address

roblems

f foundations

n

a critical

theory, roblems

f

compromise

n

a conflict

heory,

nd

problems

f

institutionalization

n

a

dynamicheory.

Yetone

type

f

alternativeontinues

o

be

generally

ismissed.

his s

the theoretical

trategyeveloped

n the

critical

ays

of

the Weimar

Republic y

the

ocialist-oriented

hought

f the

republican

eft.

This

strategy

ocused

n

constitutional

olitics

n

a distinctivendtheoretical-

lyambitious ay. twasexemplified,ntheonehand,byKarlMann-

heim's

pioneering

ssays

n

the

sociology

f

knowledge,

nd,

on

the

other

and,

y

the

designs

f

eading

ocial-democratic

egal

nd

polit-

ical

strategists.eglecting

hese

hinkers

ay

eem

ustified

ince

he

proponents

hemselvesbandoned

he

approach

nd

even

partially

blamed heir

wn

mistakesor he

alamity

hat efell

ermany

n

1933.2

But

their

ismay

hould

not

be the ast

word.

Experiences

an

be mis-

interpreted

y

the

victims f

disasters;

he

historicalefeat

f

a

theo-

retical

roject

oes

not

decree

tsobsolescence.

This article ocuses rimarilynKarl Mannheim.o situateMann-

heim's

workwithinhe

olitical

iscourse

f

Weimar,

e

shall lso con-

sider ome

major

hemes

n

the ocialist

egal

nd

politicalhought

f

the

time,

specially

n

the

olitical-legal

ssays

fFranz . Neumann.

urs

s

an exercise

n

interpretation

nd theoretical

etrieval,

ot

an

historical

1.

The

allusion

s

to

Herbert

Marcuse,

Reason

and Revolution

New

York:

Humanities

Press,

1954),

taken as

pathbreaking

nd

representative

or

several

decades

of

Western

Marxist

theorizing.

2. For Mannheim, eeMan and Society n an Age ofReconstructionLondon: Kegan

Paul,

1940), pp.

365ff.;

p.

David

Kettler,

Volker

Meja,

and Nico

Stehr,

Karl Mannheim

(New

York:

Methuen,

1984), pp.

110ff.

or

Franz

Neumann,

.g.,

see

Franz L.

Neumann,

Demokratischer

nd autoritarer taat

(Frankfurt:

uropaische Verlagsanstalt,

967),

p.

12;

cp.

David

Kettler,

Works

Community

nd

Workers'

Organization:

A

Central

Prob-

lem

in

Weimar Labour

Law,

Economy

and

Society,

13:2

(1984).








David

Kettler

Volker

Meja

625

narrative.

ur

major bjectives

re to establishhat

Mannheim's

heo-

retical

roject

did

have a

political earing,

hat ts

central

roblems

closely

resemble he

present-day

roblem

onstellationf

political

theory,

nd that

ts

designs

re

again

worth

iscussing.

We

will

first

xamine

riefly

he evidence

oncerning

annheim's

political

ommitments,

s

well s themixed

estimony

n this core

y

his

contemporaries.

his

will

suggest

he

unsurprising

onclusion

hat

Mannheim's

rimary

udience

nd reference

roup

n Weimar

ermany

were

persons

lose

to

the Social Democratic

arty

nd, also,

that

his

theoretical

ork,

nsofar s

it was

designed

s a

political

ntervention,

was directed rimarilyoward econstitutingherepublicanoliticalworld.A

comparison

ith similar ffortmade

by

a

group

fSocial

Democraticabor

awyers

ill

how oth

urprising

arallels

nd

nstruc-

tivedifferences.

e

will

rgue

hatMannheim

onstrues

he

Weimar

political omplex rior

o

1930 s

potentially

model

for

dynamic

mediating

tructure. e

attempts

o

circumventhe

political

mpasse

brought

bout,

n

his

view,

y deological olarization

nd mutual is-

trust,

without

elying

n

a rationalist

omogenization

f

differences,

seeking

nstead

o

reconstitutehe situation

or

political

iscourse.

With isproject,Mannheimaughthe ttentionfthe ublic esought

to

address,

ut

he

did

not

manage

o

convey

usable

olitical onception

to them.

His

political

roject

nded

n

misunderstanding.

et,

as our

attempt

o

retrieve

is

position

hows,

we

think

hathe is

prematurely

and

too

easily

ismissed

y

hose

who

refaced

with

problem

onstella-

tion

more imilar

o

his ntellectual

ituation

n

1930

han

hey

re

pre-

pared

o

admit.

I.

It is

difficult

o

give

definitiveccount

f

Mannheim's

vert

olitical

commitments;

he

evidence

s

slim,

cattered,

nd

inconclusive.3

s

a

young

man

in

Budapest,

he was

associated

with

everal

rogressive

reform

rganizations,

he

most

mportant eing

he

Society

or

the

3.

For

Mannheim's

ungarian ackground,

ee David

Kettler,

Culture nd

Revolu-

tion:

Lukacs

n

the

Hungarian

evolutions

f

1918/19,

elos10

Winter,

971): 5-92;

itva

Gabor,

Mannheim

n

Hungary

nd

n

Weimar

ermany,

ewsletter

f

the nter-

nationalSocietyfor the Sociology of Knowledge,9:1/2 (August, 1983): 7-14; Zoltan

Horvath,

ie

Jahrhundertwenden

Ungarn

Budapest:

orvina

erlag,

966);

nd

Mary

Gluck,

Georg

Lukdtcs

nd His

Generation

Cambridge

nd

London:Harvard

niversity

Press,

985);

he vidence

egarding

annheim

asbeen

newly

ssembled

nd

ssessed

y

Colin

Loader,

The

Intellectual

Development

of

Karl

Mannheim:

Culture,

Politics,

and

Planning

Cambridge:

ambridge

niversityress,

985).








626

The

Reconstitutionf Political ife

Social

Sciences

Thrsadalomtudominyi

Arsasig),

ed

by

Oscar

JAszi.

JAszi's roupwasmodeled n theEnglish abianSociety.t called

itself

ocialist,

ut

tronglyejected

henotions fclass

truggle

nd

pro-

letarian

evolution,

referring

nstead o break he

power

f

the

ld

rul-

inggroups hrougharliamentary

emocracy,

nlightened

ocial

policies

and

progressiveeadership.

hey

ent occasionalmoral

support

o

limited

olitical ampaigns

y

the labor

movement,

ut

their

most

important

ontributionsnvolved ducation.

hey

ntroduced

he ools

of

European

ocial

science,

ncluding

arxism,

nto

national ebates

and

exposed

backward nd

deprived

onditions

n

Hungary.

Mann-

heim's ookreviewsntheournal ssociated ith his roup, uszadik

Szdzad

Twentieth

entury),

id

not ddress

olitical

uestions,

ut

he

continued o communicate

ith

Jdszi

hroughout

he 1930s nd once

referred

o

himselfs an

old follower f

Jdszi's.4

In

fact,

Mannheim's

ungarian evelopment

as

more

strongly

marked

y

his loseness

o

Georg

ukics,

who

did

not

declare

imself

Communist

ntilDecember 918.The

Lukcs

circle schewed

olitics

and constituted

tself

round

he

hemes

f

culturalrisis nd renewal.

They

were

ot

pposed

o

progressive

eforms,

ut

hey

id

oppose

osi-

tivisticelebrationsftechnologyndsuspectedhat redominantorms

of

rationality

ended

enerally

o

be

subversive

f

anydeeper piritual

expression.

or

Mannheim,

he

preoccupation

ith

ulturalssues

did

not mean break

with

Jdszi's

adicals,

ut t

did

mean hathe was

no

longer

onvinced

hat

heir ational

esigns

ould

achieve

hatfunda-

mental

reakthrough

hich oth

roups

greed

was

needed.

Mannheim,

however,

ever

ollowed

ukcs

in

believing

hatthe

eruption

f a

Soviet-style

evolution

ignalled

henew ultural

wakening,

nd thus

e

probably

ever

aveup completely

n

republican

olitics.

wice

n

the

1920swe find isname ssociated ith ungarianepublicanolitics.n

1922 the eader

of

the short-lived

irst

Hungarian epublic,

Mihily

KArolyi,

pparently

ncludedMannheim's ame

on a list of

future

leaders

f

democratic

ungary

nd,

gain

n

1924,

Mannheimeferred

to

himself,

n

a

politically

ffusiveetter

o an

6migr6

eriodical,

s a true

exileof

principle

rom he

oppressive

orthy

egime.5

ut he did not

place

his

highest

opes

for

olitics

n

political

ction

er

e.

By

the ime

he left

Hungary

or

Germany,

is

politics

nvolved

general

ut

loof

4.

See

Kettler,

eja,

and

Stehr,

arl

Manheim,

hap.

1, 3,

and

4;

Jean

loud,

Karl

Mannheim nA. V.

Judges,

d.,

The unctions

f Teaching

London:

aber nd

Faber,

1959), p.

40-66.

5.

Karl

Mannheim,

Levelek

z

emigrici6b61

,

Diogenes,

anuary

,

1924,

No.

1,

pp.

13-15.








David

Kettler

Volker

Meja

627

sympathy

ith he

movements

gainst

heold

order,

ubordinated

o

a

convictionhat hereallymportantovementor hangewasthe triv-

ing

or new

piritual

rounding

aradoxically

yway

f

dispassionate

and

analyticalritique

fculture.

Mannheim,

herefore,

ad

principled

s well s

practical

easons

or

seeking

n academic

areer,

nd such

career ould

not

be

begun

t that

time nd

nthat

lace

by

omeone

ho

ppeared

oo

political,

specially

by

an alien

and a Jew.

During

is

years

t

Heidelberg,

920 o

1930,

Mannheim

ept

n academic

loofness

rommanifest

olitical

ommit-

ments.

is German

ublications

rior

o his

habilitation

ere

echnical

and apolitical nough, nd hisacademic ponsors, milLederernd

Alfred

Weber,

haracterized

annheim

as a man

who has never

exposed

imself

olitically

n

the

past

nd

who

will

not,

o

udgeby

his

entire

ttitude

nd all

his

nclinations,

ver

o so in the

future. 6

We

will further

llustrate

hecontext

or

hese

emarks

y

quoting

from he fficial

orrespondence

nthe ebate verMannheim's

atural-

ization.

hiswill hed

ight

ot

only

n how

difficult

t was

for n alien

Jew

o establish

n academic

areer,

ut

lso on the ontext

ithin hich

Mannheim

ad to

place

his

hopes

for

nfluencing

erman

olitical

ife.

Atthe ime f Mannheim'sabilitation,he nner enate f theUni-

versity

ad

objected

o

his

being

icensed s

a

Privatdozent

n the

grounds

hat he lacked

German

itizenship.

hough

the

University

authorities

nd the state uthorities

or

Baden decided

his

ssue

n

Mannheim's

avor,

isnaturalizationontinued

o be debated t

inter-

governmental

evels

or nother

hree

ears.

Under

he naturalization

laws of the

time,

ny

exception

o a

twenty-year

robationary

eriod

required

he

agreement

f all

the state

governments.

aden

had

requested

annheim's

aturalizationfter

nly

ight ears

esidence

n

thegroundsf hisexceptionalualificationsndaccomplishments,s

wellas

his

culturally

erman

ackground.

avaria nd

Wuirttemberg

withheld

onsent.

n

the onfidential

xchanges

f

1929,

he

Wirttem-

berg

Ministry

f the

nterior

t

one

point

writes:

I

see

n

the vermore ommon

enerous

aturalization

f an ever

increasing

umber

f eastern

oreigners

f

alien tock

(fremdstim-

mige

Ostauslinder)

serious

hreat

o

German

interests,--especial-

6.

Report

of the

Faculty

of

Philosophy

t the

University

f

Heidelberg

o

the

Inner

Senate

(April

8,

1926)

in

Mannheim's

Habilitationsakten,

University

f

Heidelberg

Archives;

p.

David

Kettler,

Volker

Meja,

and Nico

Stehr,

Karl

Mannheim nd

Con-

servatism:The

Ancestry

f Historical

Thinking,

American

Sociological

Review,

9:1

(February,

984):

75-6.








628

The Reconstitution

f Political

ife

ly

t

a time

when ne

must ear hat

rofessions

hich hould

y

ll

means

e

keptGerman,

s

is

particularlyrue funiversityeach-

ing,

will

become

oreignhrough

nd

through

Durchfremdung).

Bavaria's

Ministry

dds:

Dr. Mannheim

s,

moreover,

n Eastern

oreigner

f

alien

tock.

He

has beenhere

nly

ight

ears.

he ever

more

ommon

ntru-

sion

f

Eastern

lements

who

re

undesirable

n

any

ase)

nto

Ger-

man

university

areers

must

radually

eadtoa

flooding

f

German

culturey foreignlementsUberfremdungeutscherultur).n

view

f the

great

umber

f

qualified

omestic

orces,

ho

must

often

truggle

itterly

or

urvival,

see

no

reason

or

ringing

n

foreigners

o

educate

ur

German

cademic

outh,

nd

uch,

more-

over,

s

have

heir

rigins

n

a culture

hich

s

essentially

lien

o

the

German

ne.

The

official

rom aden

knows

owhe must

peak

o

his

colleagues,

and

presumably

o theofficials

n

the

federal

hancellory

s

well,

for

whom his orrespondenceseventuallyntended:

Although

share he

views

f the

thers,

hat

verpopulating

ni-

versity

areers

ith astern

lements

s

undesirable

n

general,

do

think

hat

xceptions

re

ustified,

n

caseswhere

utstanding

nd

professionally

ecognized

ccomplishments

f a teacherre

avail-

able

t the

ime

nd

expectable

or

he uture.

lthough

r.

Mann-

heim

s a

Jew,

is case

s

notthat

f an Eastern

oreigner

n the

usual

sense

NB

the

implicit

cknowledgement

hat

Ostaus-

liander s a euphemismor East-European ew ],sincehis

native

ity

udapest

s

to

be considered

s

belonging

o

the

German

cultural

omain

n

certain

espects,

n view

f

Hungary's

ormer

membership

n the

Austro-Hungarian

onarchy

sic].

In

the

nd,

diplomacy

riumphed,

nd

Mannheim

njoyed

our

ears

f

German

ivic

ights.'

Within

he

mmediate

cademic

aculty

o

which

Mannheim

spired,

his Jewish

nd

Hungarian

ntecedents

o

not

appear

o

have

been

as

important consideration.here, heforbiddenorm f political

7. Source:

Badisches Generallandesarchiv

n

Karlsruhe

photocopied

materials

made

available

without

ull

citation).








David

Kettler

Volker

Meja

629

more

nearly

meant

Marxist,

n thebroad

political

ense

f

he

imes,

involving

ctive

ngagement

n

behalf f

the

parties

ssociated ith he

labormovementr

perhaps

imply

oo

positive

commitmentothenew

political

endencies.

ithin he

German

ociological ociety,

he

ssue

was

ncreasingly

efined

s a

strugglegainst

istorical

aterialism,

nd

especially

gainst

he atter's

nmasking

f the

ideological

haracter

of

respectablehinking.uring

hefirst ecade

f

the

entury,

he

erm

sociology

had

been

oosely

ssociatedwith

Marxism,

nd the mall

group

which ormed

he new

Society,

vowing

heir

oyalty

o

Max

Weber's

rogram,igorouslyought

o

dispel

hese ssociations

nd

to

render hediscipline cademicallyegitimate.'Mannheimwas able,

through

he

manner

s well s thematterf

his

work,

o

retain he ome-

times

rudgingood

will

f the

ociological

stablishment,

hile

eing

recognizedy

more adical

ociologists

s a

new

nd

powerfulpokes-

manon their ide.

Mannheim's

ppearance

t the

1928

Congress

f

German

ociologists

was a

triumph,

n

part

because he

was

entrusted ith

major

co-

presentation

ith

eopold

von

Wiese

ut lso because

e

won

respect-

ful

hearing

or

complex

hesis,

rguing

hat

nowledge

n

the ocial

nd

political omain s connectedo existenceSeinsverbunden)nd thus

varies

ccording

o

social

ocation.He went n to

set

up

a

distinction

betweentatic

nd

dynamichinking,

he atter f which

ecognizes

he

characteristics

f social

knowledge

nd

adapts

tself o them.

ccording

to

Mannheim,

he

present

s

constituted

y

a

competitionmong

hree

alternative

nterpretations

f

existence,

nd

he

holdsout

the

prospect

that

new

synthesis

ill

provide

common ore

of

indispensable

knowledge

o all

the

competitors.

lthough

Mannheim

meticulously

avoids

nyprovocative

nvocation

f

combative

olitical

logans,

heres

muchhere hat s reminiscentf Marxistocialand political heory.

Indeed,

Mannheim's enior

olleague,

Alfred

Weber,

oncludes is

polite

ut

ritical

omment

ith

he

uestion,

Is

all

this

nything

ore

than brilliant

endition

f

the ld

historical

aterialism,

resented

ith

extraordinary

ubtlety?

utWerner

ombart,

he

President

f

theGer-

man

Sociological ociety,

whenhis

turn

ame,

offered

Mannheim

remarkable

pportunity

o

exculpate

imself. e

postulated

hat

his-

torical

materialism

enies he

objectivity

f

existence

nd

the

reality

f

the

pirit,

nd

suggested

hatMannheim

ffirms

hem.

Is

that

ight?

8.

Ren6

Konig,

Uber

das

vermeintliche

nde der deutschen

Soziologie

vor

der

Machtergreifung

es

Nationalsozialismus,

KOlner

Zeitschrift

tir

Soziologie

und

Sozial-

psychologie

36:1

(1984):

1-42.








630

The Reconstitution

f Political

ife

he

asks,

and

the

minutes

ecord,

[Dr.

Mannheim

grees].

So

the

seniorsre divided.

For

our

purposes,

he

more

nteresting

esponse

omes rom succes-

sion

of

younger,

oliticallyophisticated

cademics ho

were

elighted

withMannheim's

resentation.

ot

only

Emil Lederer

ut also his

former

olleague

n theSocialization

ommission,

obert

Wilbrandt,

are

unqualified

n their

raise;

whileAdolf

Lowe

and Norbert

lias

eagerly ickup

Lederer's

uggestion

hat

Mannheim's

rgument

omes

down o

special

ecognition

or

he

dynamic

haracter

fmodern

ociety

and for

heneed o overcomehe

tatic ar

from

ntiquatedositions

n

favor f a dynamic roblem-solvingpenness o changingacts nd

uncertain

erms

f

conflict.9

his

response

rovides

n

mportant

lue o

the

political

earing

f Mannheim's

ocial

heorizing.

Internal

vidence

rom

his

eriod

f his

work,

hough

ometimes

ex-

ingly

rtful

n

design,

larifieshe

tendency

f

his

thought.

We have

argued

lsewhere

hatMannheim's

eidelberg

abilitation

hesis,

on-

servatism,

ppears

o

havebeen

imed t

a

conservative

olitical

udi-

ence

s well

s at his

professorial

upervisors.10

hat

was

at

one

evel

non-evaluativetructural

nalysis

nd

sociological

erivation

f several

historicalhasesnthe evelopmentfconservativehinking,ppears t

another

o be

a

qualified

conservative

egitimation

or

the ine

of

thinking

ulminating

ot

nly

n theLiberal

emocrat,

rnst

roeltsch,

but

lso

n

the

Communist,

eorg

ukacs.

Historicism,

ithts

ejection

of the

rationalist niversalism

f liberal

hinking

long

the ines

of

natural aw

and its

attempt

o

ground

nderstanding

n

dynamic

en-

sions,

s

presented

y

Mannheims a

paradoxical

ut

organic

evelop-

ment

from

world-view

ocially

ooted

n

the

more ancient

nti-

modernist

ocial trata.

hisnew

way

f

thinking,

ommon o

themore

collectivistariantsf liberalismndto socialismlike,was made to

appear

s

a

revival rom

atency

f old

conservative

ays

f

ooking

t

9.

Diskussion

iber

'Die

Konkurrenz,'

reprinted

n Volker

Meja

and Nico

Stehr,

eds.,

Der Streit

um

die

Wissenssoziologie,

ol.

1

(Frankfurt:

uhrkamp,1982), pp.

371-

401.

Lederer

used all

of

his

nfluence

with

he

reformist

russian

ministry

f Culture

nd

Science

during

he next

year

to secure

Mannheim

the

professorship

t

Frankfurt;

lias

worked

closely

with

Mannheim

n

both

Heidelberg

nd

Frankfurt.

See

Norbert

Elias,

Notizen zum Lebenslauf, in Peter Gleichmann,JohannGoudsblom and Hermann

Korte,

eds.,

Macht

und

Zivilisation

Frankfurt:

uhrkamp, 1984)];

and Lowe

became

Mannheim's

ifelong

riend

nd sometime

ollaborator,

ssociated

withhim

n Frankfurt

n

the

Christian

ocialist

circle round

Paul Tillich

nd

in

London

in The Moot

social Chris-

tian discussion

group

see

Kettler,

Meja,

and

Stehr,

Karl

Mannheim,

pp. 71ff.).

10.

Kettler,

Meja,

and

Stehr,

Karl

Mannheim

nd Conservatism.








David Kettler

Volker

Meja

631

the

world,

ow

aken

p

by

new

ocialforces nd

pushed

oward

new

synthesis

ith

rogressive

ationalization

tendencies.But Mannheim's

olitical

udiencewasnotonthe

Right.

nsofars

thenotion f an inner inkbetween onservatismnd socialism ad

a

following

n the ld

political ight,

he tress

ason traditionsfcollec-

tive

iscipline

nd

on

common ubordinationo a

transcendentommon

interest.

he

ugly

hared

ssumptions

nd

common

anguage

n

the

intergovernmental

orrespondence

oncerning

annheim's

aturaliza-

tion

may

be taken s

a

dreary ymptom

f

the

ctual

gulf

f

loathing

which

eparated

he

conservative

olitical

udience,

which

Mannheim

mightonceivablyavehoped oreach hroughhehabilitationhesis,

from

omeoneike

himself

nd from he

orts f

claims e was

attempt-

ing

o

make.

n

response

o the

xplosive

ise

fthe

new

Right,

more-

over,

Mannheim

ncreasingly

tressedhat

his

theory

bout he

political

and rrational

ernel

n

all

social

knowledge,

he

nsight

upposedly

om-

mon to

conservatismnd

socialism,

must

not

be

taken s

any

sort

f

justification

or

ssertive

rrationalism

nd

for

he

Fascist

laim

hat

true

will

s a

foundation

ufficientor rue

nowledge. 12

n

context,

Mannheim

ppealed

not

to the

Right

ut

to

people

of

the Left

who

believed hat heconservativend neoromanticritiquesf liberalism

and

rationalism

ad

valuable ontributionso

make

o socialist

heory.

The

reception

f Mannheim's

deologie

nd

Utopie

n 1929-30 on-

firmshis

attern.

t has often

eennoted

hat he

major ontemporary

reviewswritten

y

younger

ocial

thinkers ere

critical,

ometimes

aggressively

o,

but nsufficient

eight

as been

given

o the

ntensity

f

their nterest

n

thework

f writersctive

n

attempts

o

revitalizehe

stereotyped

heoretical

iscourse

f the Left. Rudolf

Hilferding

ad

establishedhe

ournal

Die

Gesellschaft

n

order

o

give

ocial

Democ-

racy forum or heoreticaleflection.fter928, e eftt argelynder

the control

f the

Frankfurt

ociologist,

lbert

alomon,

who

sought

outcontributionsrom

he

younger

eneration

f ocial

hinkers. '

n

the

two

ssues

following

he

ppearance

f

Mannheim's

ook,

Die Gesell-

schaft

ublished

our

ssays

devoted

argely

o

Ideologie

und

Utopie.

11.

E.g.,

Oswald

Spengler,

Preussentum nd

Sozialismus

(Munich:

C.H.

Beck,

1920).

12. Karl

Mannheim,

ie

Gegenwartsaufgaben

er

Soziologie:

hre

Lehrgestalt

(Tiibingen: .C.B.MohrPaulSiebeck), 932); p.Kettler, eja,andStehr, arlMann-

heim,

p.

75-6;

cp.

Karl

Mannheim,

an and

Society

n

an

Age of

Reconstruction,

p.

365f.

13.

Ernst

raenkel,

Vorwort

um

Neudruck,

ur

Soziologie

er

Klassenjustiz

nd

Aufsatze

ur

Verfassungskrise

931-32

Darmstadt:

Wissenschaftliche

uchgesellschaft,

1968), .

VIII.








632

The

Reconstitution

f

Political

ife

Paul

Tillich,

erbert

arcuse,

annah

Arendt,

ndHans

Speier

ll

had

importantbjectionso Mannheim'srguments;ut ll agreed hathe

had

hit

upon

he ssential

genda

tems,

nd nonewas satisfiedo write

him

ff

s a

bourgeois

pponent

f scientific

arxism. one-sided

ay

of

ummarizing

hat

made

Mannheimeem o

relevant,

f

not

omplete-

ly

right,

o

these

membersf

the

eftist

ntelligentsia

an

be taken

rom

furious

haracterizationf his work

y

a

hostile ocialistwriterf

the

older,

cientistic

ind:

The

organizational

oal

of thesocial order

s

surrendered

by

Mannheim]

o

Savigny. '4

hey

were

ntriguedy

ele-

ments

n the

older

onservative

hought.

Alfons ollnerhas recentlyalledattentiono the fascination ith

important

onservativeources

nd themes

mong

three

nteresting

Weimar

igures

f

the

Left,

ranz

.

Neumann,

tto

Kirchheimer,

nd

Herbert

Marcuse,

ll

of

whom

were

ontributors

o Die

Gesellschaft. I

Two

of thesewere

urists,ntriguedy

Carl Schmitt's

rguments

bout

the

rrational

oundations

f

order;

nd Sllner could

asily

ave dded

the

egal

theorists,

ermann

eller

nd

Hugo

Sinzheimer,

o

his

ist.

What

hey

ll

had

n

common

as a search

or

way

o

rationalizehe

irrationalitieselebrated

y

conservative

riters,

ithout

osing

the

energynddynamismhichppearedobe nherentnthem. nlike he

ideologists

f

theDemocratic

arty,

hey

id

not

magine

hat romanti-

cized

feeling

f national

ommunity

ouldovercome

onflictnd chan-

nel

social

energies.

nd,

for

the

most

part,

hey

were

no

longer

on-

vinced

y

he

evolutionary

ocialist

hesis hat he

figure

f

a

dialectical

revolutionary

verturn ould

comprehend

he

problem:

n

political

terms,

heir

roblem

as to

explore

he

kind f

ynthesis

hichwas

con-

stituted.

y

he

egal

rder nd

political

ife

f

Weimar,

iven

heirhared

reaction

gainst

iberal onstitutional

r social

theory.

Mannheim's

theoryimilarlyocusednthe econsiderationfsynthesis.n the ight

of

grave

difficulties

ithrationalistic

opes

for

dialectical

istorical

development,

annheim's

haracteristic

onception

f a

process

which

manifests

tself

oncurrently

n

polarization

nd

synthesis

nd

his

con-

ception

f

a

dynamic

mediation o

manage

he

tensions

ithout

is-

solving

hem16

as

parallels

nd

a certain esonance

n these

uarters.

14. The

reviews

nDie

Gesellschaft,

s well

s

others,

re

onveniently

ollectedn

Meja

and

Stehr,

er

Streit

m

die

Wissenssoziologie.

he ast

quotation

s from review ot

included here:Julius raft, Soziologie derSoziologismus? eitschriftar Vilker-

psychologie

nd

Soziologie,

.

5

(1929), .

413.

15.

Alfons

Sollner,

Leftisttudents

fthe

Conservativeevolution:

eumann,

irch-

heimer,

nd

Marcuse,

elos 1

Fall

1984):

5-70.

16.

Karl

Mannheim,

Competition

s a Cultural

henomenon,

ssays

n

the ociol-

ogy

f

Knowledge,

aul

Kecskemeti,

d.

London:

Routledge egan

aul

Ltd.,

1952),

p.








David

Kettler

Volker

Meja

633

II.

The newly vailablefull1926text fMannheim's Conservatism lari-

fies a

thesiswhich

ppears

as an

unargued ssumption

n

Mannheim's

subsequent

eliance

n

political

deologies

s

points

f

reference

n

nter-

preting

he whole

domain

of

thinking

onnected

o

existence.He

main-

tains that

political thinking

as

become

the

critical

point

of

reference

only

since the FrenchRevolution

because

the

state has

only

assumed a

central

lace

in

society

ince

then.

Moreover,

he

establishes

conceptual

link

between

political deologies

nd the

activities nd

designs

f actual

political

parties.

t is

the

trugglemong

the

parties,

roadly

onsidered,

which onstituteshepoliticalreality f the state nd thecontextwithin

which

deologies

ake form nd

change.

Before

onservatism

merged

s

a

political

force,

he

argues,

here ould be no such

thing

s

a

conservative

ideology.

In

an

historicalnote

on

the

concept

of

conservatism,

Mannheim

reviews

he work

of

three

predecessors, eginning

with

Friedrich

ulius

Stahl,

in

1863,

and

closing

with

Gustav Radbruch's influential

asic

book on

legal philosophy,

irst

ublished

n

1914. 8

Mannheim

redits

Radbruchwith

working

ut the

systematic

nterconnections

etween

he

effective olitical deologiesof politicalparties nd a variety f more

comprehensive

world-views.He

defines

his own

distinctive

eparture

fromRadbruch as

involving

wo features.

First,

he

denies Radbruch's

claim

that the

variety

f

world-views an be

systematically

educed a

priori,

n

thebasis

of

a structural

nalysis

f

possible

nswers o

the

fun-

damental ssues which world-views

must address.

Second,

he reverses

Radbruch's

stand

on

the

theoretical elevance

f

the

linkages

between

ideologies

nd

world-views,

n the

one

side,

and

the historical

evelop-

ment

of

socioeconomic

groups,

on

the other.Of

course,

as

Mannheim

notes, hey reengagedndifferentntellectualnterprises.nhisRechts-

philosophie,

Radbruch s

trying

o

workout a

relativisticnd

yet

binding

theory

of

valid

legal

norms,

while

Mannheim's

Conservatism s an

216ff.;

Karl

Mannheim,

Ist Politik ls

Wissenschaft

oglich? deologie

und

Utopie,

th

ed.

(Frankfurt/M:

.

Schulte-Bulmke,

965).

The reasons for

citing

he German

original

on this

point,

ather

han

the

orresponding

hapter

n

the

English

ranslation,

re set

forth

in

Kettler,

Meja,

and

Stehr,

Karl

Mannheim,

pp.

107-118.

17. KarlMannheim,Conservatism,d. D. Kettler, . Meja, N. Stehr; ransl.D. Kettler

and V.

Meja

(London,

Boston and

Henley:

Routledge

&

Kegan

Paul,

1986).

18.

Karl

Mannheim,

Historical Note

on

the

Concept

of Political

Conservatism,

Karl

Mannheim,

onservatism,

p.

77-82;

Gustav

Radbruch,

Grundziige

er

Rechtsphilosophie

(Leipzig:

Quelle

und

Meyer,

1914).

Radbruch

was Professor f

Law at

Heidelberg,

ocial

Democratic

Member

f

Parliament etween1920 and

1924,

nd

twice

Minister

f

Justice.








634 The Reconstitutionf Political

ife

account

nd

nalysis

f

thehistoricaloots

f

historicism.ut

hey

hare

notonly hefocus nhistoricallyiven artisanoctriness a locusof

social

knowledge

ut also

the

striving

or a

structured

ut

dynamic

mediation

mong rreducibly

artial

perspectives,ncluding

he

con-

servative.

The

political earing

f

Mannheim's

hinking

s

illuminated

y

the

coincidence

hat

hese

spects

f

Radbruch's

ork lso

provide

he

oint

of

departure

or

Franz

L.

Neumann's

octoral issertation

n

1923. 9

Problems

f

deology

nd

synthesis,

s

well

s the

ecovery

f

conserva-

tive

elements,

ignal

the

common

roblem

exus.

Despite

lot

of

unsatisfactoryethodologicalpeculationnthe hesis,heyoungurist

inquires

nto

he

elationships

etweenhe tate

nd

egalpunishment.

truly

ociological heory

f

the

state,

Neumann

maintains,

s

all

but

indistinguishable

rom

sociology

f

political arties,

ecause

he

tate

is

constituted

y

the

ctivities

f

the

parties.

ccordingly,

he

uestion

about

ontrasting

heories

f

punishmentroves

o

be

a

question

bout

the

relationships

etween

artisan

onceptions

f

the tate

nd

partisan

approaches

o

punishment.

ow

that

heSocial

Democracy

s a

prime

bearer

f

state

power,

ccording

o

Neumann,

here

s a contradiction

betweenhe onstructiveonceptionfthe tateppropriateothe ocial

Democratic

arty

nd that

arty's ontinuing

ndividualistic

onception

of

punishment,legacy

rom

ts

time

n

opposition.

onsequently,

e

sees

t

as

his

first

ask

o

explain

why

he

ocialist

heory

f

punishment

does

notmore

nearly pproximate

he

onservative

ne,

with

ts

notion

of

punishment

s a

necessary

thical

stablishment,

n

keeping

ith

ts

conception

f

the tate

s the

mbodimentfthe

thical

dea.

The econd

task

s to

generate

more

dequate

heory.

n both

espects,

eumann

draws

n Radbruch:

19.

Franz

Neumann,

echtsphilosophische

inleitung

u

einer

Abhandlung

iber

as

Verhdiltnis

on

taat

und

trafe, npublished

issertation,

aculty

f

Law,

Frankfurt

.

M.

[1923].

Neumann

tates

he ubstantive

roblem

escribed

n our text

ut devotes

almost

ll ofthe

issertation

o a not

notably

uccessful

ttempt

o show he

hilosophical

differences

nd

relationships

mong

ifferentevels

f

nalysis

f

egal

ssues,

ulminating

in an

argument

n

favor

f

an evaluative

hilosophy

f

law,

somehow

rounded pon

philosophy

f

history.

henNeumann

efersothis

work

n

1935

n he

ntroduction

ohis

second

issertation,

ritten

orHarold aski

and

Karl

Mannheim)

t the

ondon chool

ofEconomics,echaracterizestexclusivelyntermsfthe ubstantiveociologicalhesis

about he

inkages

etweenifferent

egal

heories,

specially

aturalaw

heories,

nddif-

ferent

ocially-groundeddeologies,gnoring

he abored

philosophical

fforts

hich

occupy

most

f

the

113

pages

of

typescript.

ee

Franz

Neumann,

Die

Herrschaft

es

Gesetzes

Frankfurt:

uhrkamp erlag,

980),

.

19. The

original nglish

ersion,

hich

credits annheim

ormuch

elp,

s on

deposit

t

theLondon

chool

f Economics.








David

Kettler

Volker

Meja

635

Until

ecently,

ocialism as

substantially

ndividualistic.ts

deol-

ogywasthemanifestlyndividualisticdeologyffreedom... A

major

ask

n

the econstruction

f

the

arty

rogram

as

precisely

the evision

f

demandsike

hese,

hich

he ocial

Democracy

ad

put

forward

n ts

apacity

s

oppositionarty

nd

not

n

the asis

of

the dea

of

ocialism.

ince he ocial

Democracy

asbeen

alled

to

co-participation

nd

co-responsibility,

s a

result f war and

revolution,

heres a

change

n

ts

pirit

nderway,

hich

emoves

it ever

urther

rom

hat ndividualistic

tartingoint.

Similarly,nhisbriefonclusion, eumann uilds nRadbruch's ind-

ings

hat

mutual

ppositions

etween

arty iewpoints

re

neradicable

because

hey

eflecthe

neluctability

f

conflicting

alueswithinach

individuals

well

s

withinhe

tate,

nd

he contendshat

no

principle

can be

implemented

n

pure

orm.

Neumann

ontinues:

It is

the

ask

of

egalpolicy-and specially

f

egal

policy

n

a democratic

tate-to

create

balance,

synthesis.

his

yearning

or

ynthesis

s

nherent

n

the

major endency

f

ourtimes.

Neumann

everworked ut

his

onception

f

synthesis

n

a

philo-

sophicalwayduringhe enyears ollowingisdissertation.tselabora-

tion

s,

rather,

mplicit

n

his

egalwritings

n

abor awand the

Weimar

constitution,

nd these

writings

re themselvesn

integral

art

of

the

legal policy

f

the ocial

Democratic

arty.

n

this

work,

Neumann

was

closely

ssociated

with

senior

olleague,

ugo

Sinzheimer,

ho

had

already

aid

down

n

influential

heory

f

abor aw

before

he

irst

WorldWar and

who

had,

as a Social

Democrat,

layed

n

important

part

on

theConstitutionalommittee

f

theConstituent

ssembly

f

1919-20.22

f,

for

Mannheim,

he

aradigm

or

chievable

ynthesis

as

the ompetitionver hepublic nterpretationfreality hich oncen-

trated

olarities

hile

lso

generating

ufficientelf-reflective

apabili-

ties,

pecifically,

he

ociology

f

knowledge,

o

bring

bout common

definition

f

the

ituation,

or

inzheimer,

eumannnd

their

ssociates

20.

Gustav

adbruch,

ulturlehrees

Sozialismus

Berlin, 922), p.

16-17;

uoted y

Neumann,

echtsphilosophische

inleitung,

.

9.

21.

Ibid.,

p.

108.

22. OttoKahn-Freund,HugoSinzheimer875-1945, abour aw andPoliticsnthe

Weimar

epublic,

oy

Lewis

nd

John

lark,

d.

Oxford:

asil

Blackwell,

981),

p.

72-

107;

Hugo

Sinzheimer,

rbeitsrecht

nd

Rechtssoziologie

Frankfurt

nd

Cologne:

uro-

paische

erlagsanstalt,

976);

David

Kettler,

Works

ommunity

nd

Workers'

rganiza-

tions:

A

Central

roblemn

Weimar abour

Law,

Economy

nd

Society,

3

August,

1984):

78-303.








636

The Reconstitution

f

Political

ife

the

paradigm

as

the collective

greement

etween

apital

nd

abor.

For Sinzheimer,ollectivegreementsere theprime xample f

social

creativity

n

the

domain f

law,

forged

n

the

nitiativef

non-

state ollective

orcesnd

ncompatible

ith

he

ationalized,

ndividual-

istic,

roperty-oriented

tructures

f

bourgeois

ivil

aw.On thebasis f

this ocial

nnovation,

e

thought,

labor aw

was

emerging

nd

expand-

ing,displacing

he

ivil

ode

grounded

n

property

nd ndividual

on-

tract.

nteracting

ith

hemass

rganization

f

abor nto

nions

nd

ts

mobilization

n

an

increasingly

emocratized

oliticalphere,

his

evel-

opment

would

cumulatively

ransform

hewhole

onstitution

f

eco-

nomicndpoliticalife, enderingt ubstantivelyoreust, ollectivist,

and

person-oriented.

annheim's

ompetitive

econstitution

f the

political

ituation nd the Sinzheimer/Neumannollective

greement

both

nvision

nstitutionalizing

ontinuing

onflict,

im

to

bring

bout

fundamental

hanges

hile

eeping

ithin

he

erms

f

a

violence

vert-

ing

ettlement,

ndboth

epend

or

his

atter

im

on

rendering

ormally

stable

concepts

nd institutions

ore

dynamic

hrough changes

n

[their]

unction.

Like

the

equence

f

collective

greements

n

the

history

f a

given

economic nit,developmentas seenbySinzheimerndNeumanno

proceed hrough

series

f

transitory

ut

ffectiveormative

tructures,

each

xpressing

he

ower

elationsetweenhe

principalontestingar-

ties.

The

differencesetween

arties

re

not

denied.

hey

re

partially

mediated

y

n

agreement

hose

erms,

inding

or

limitedime

nly,

are

usticiable

yprocesses

e.g., adjudication

y

ourts

ith

epresenta-

tive

ay

ssessors,

earings

efore

multiple-partite

ribunals,

rbitration)

that

re

ultimatelyesponsive

o

changes

n

the

ower

ealities

rounding

the

greements.

hen

greementsxpire y

their wn

terms

r

when

theyrerenderednvalid y uperioruthority,heprocessfrenegotia-

tion s

ultimately

overned

y

tests

f

strength.

n

the ast

analysis,

orderingrinciples

re

grounded

pon

constitutional

ettlements

hich

have

nothing

ore han unctionalnd

political

alidation:

hey

o

the

job

and

they

re not

forcibly

esisted

yanyparty.

In

a

wider,

more

peculative

ense,

his

practical

oundation

s

sup-

posed,by

these ocialist

heorists,

o

gain

ts

ultimate

eaning

rom

Marxist

hilosophy

f

history.

ut

a

much

more

mportant

eature

f

this

pproach

s

that

uestions

bout suchultimate

meanings

re

sys-

tematicallyelegatedo theoutermost arginf concern. he actual

work f

sustaining

nd

improvinggreements

s

comprehended

ithin

the ermsf

professional

uristic

iscourse,

owevermuch his

may

be

expanded

o

recognize

ocial

processes

nd

powerrelationships ormally

obscured.

Mannheim

hoped

too forultimate

hilosophical

alidation

f








David

Kettler

Volker

Meja

637

the

mmediately

elevant

ompositeettlements,

uthe

also

adopted

modeofinquirynddiscoursenalogously esignedoputaside ulti-

mate

uestions.

heoretical

pproaches

re

characterizeds much

y

he

questions

hey

hoose

notto

address s

by

their

ctive

oncerns.

Two articles

hich

ppeared

n

the ame

volume

fDie

Gesellschaft

s

thefirstxtendedeviewsfMannheim's

deologie

nd

Utopie

llustrate

the

pplications

f

Sinzheimer's

pproach eyond

he

pecializedphere

of

abor

aw.One

s

by

Franz

Neumann,

he

ther

y

his

losest ssociate

and

law

partner,

rnst

raenkel. othdeal

with heWeimar

onstitu-

tion,

nd both efero the

olitical

ituation

fter he ocialDemocratic

gainsnthe lection f 1928 nd before he nset fthe conomicrisis.

Juxtaposing

hese

egal-theoretical

tudiesto Mannheim's ontem-

poraneous

orks

elps

o

bring

utthe

mportant

tructural

arallels.

central

uality

f both he

uristic

nd the

ociological esigns

s that

they

re

constructive;

hey

re

positive

ather han

negative

r critical

theories. adical

riticisms

fthe ationalizedtructures

f

modernity-

whether

ciences r

political

heories

r marketsr

iberal

onstitutional

states-are

granted

nd

extended.

ut the aim is to

reinterpret

nd

reconstruct

hese

tructures,

o as

to

take

he

rrationalactors

rought

forwardy he riticsnto ccount,ven houghhis anonly edoneby

reconceiving

he

tructures

s full

f

nner

ensions,

istoricallypisodic

and

dynamic,

nd

by

keeping

heir wnconstitutiveiscourse

ived

ff

from

ltimate

hilosophicaluestioning.

henew ocial

egal

octrine

f

the

olitical

onstitution

ought

y

Neumannnd

his ssociate esembles

in

these asic

respects

henew

ociologically

eflective

olitical

iscourse

pursued y

Mannheim.

Neumann's

arget

n

1929 s a

liberal onstitutionalist

roposal

o

regularize

he

power

f the

highest

ourt o review he

constitutional

validityf statuteaw.23 iscritique epends n anexpose f the deo-

logical

onstitution

f

egal

doctrine

nd

his

uristic

lternative

epends

on

confidence

n

the

aw-making,rderingapacities

f authenticocial

and

political rocesses

hich re

directlyrounded

n

the

ontest

f the

two

principal

rganized

artisan

ocialforces. entral o his

rgument

s

a contrast

etweenheworld f iberal

ights

nd

democracy

hichs

n

principle

ocial.

Certain

egal

nstitutions

elonging

o

the

ormer

orld,

he

maintains,

re

guaranteed

y

the Weimar

Constitution,

ut their

functions,

eanings,

nd effectrenow o

be controlled

y

he umula-

23.

Fran

Neumann,

Gegen

ein

Gesetz zur

Nachpruifung

er

GesetzmaB3igkeit

on

Reichsgesetzen,

ie

Gesellschaft.

nternationale

evue

ffir

ozialismusund

Politik,6,

6

(June, 1929):

517-36.








638 The Reconstitutionf Political ife

tive

rocess

f

democratic

ransformation,

n and

out

of

thedemocratic

legislature.heseprocessesmaynotbe overruledycourts pplyingwhat s now

simply

he defensive

deology

f the

bourgeoisie,

hich

appears

n

its

public-law

uise

s

a

kindof

natural aw

competent

o

override

ecisions

rounded

n

the

historically

ctualdemocraticocial

and

political

onstitution.

To show

he

endency

f

the

ourts,

e cites he

xpansion

f

the

on-

cept

of

property,rotected

nder

he

Weimar

onstitution,

o

include

the

securing

f all the

objects

and

rights

which

form conomic

resources

r

wealth. ''24

his

goesdirectly

ounter

o the modern ocial-

ist heoryfprivateaw whose oundationsthe ociologicalonceptf

propertyeveloped

y

Karl

Marx,

Karl

Renner,

nd

Hugo

Sinzheimer,

and

which

ees

in

property

a

bundle

f

functions.

n a

capitalist

economic

rder,

ropertyives

ower

ver

hings

nd

people;

nd

the

power

ver

hings

ntails

ossession,

irection,

ndutilization

or

rofit:

Socialist

egal theory

onsiders

t

to be thetask

of

economic

aw to

decrease he

discretionaryowers

f

proprietors,

ith

rimary

mphasis

at

the

present

ime

eing laced

n

regulating

he

directive

owers

fthe

proprietor. 1

eumann

oes

on

to

focus hediscussion

n the

ask

of

labor aw nparticular,hich etakes o be therestrictionf thepro-

prietor's ower

ver

hisworkerss

well s

therestriction

f

the

powers

of

the

ne

class

over he ther:

This

development

s

by

no means

t an

end;

t s still

nder

way

nd

doubtlessims t

a

further

trengthening

f

the

nterventionaryowers

f

state,

rade

nions,

ndwork

ouncils. 26

During

he iberal

ge,

Neumann

maintains,

he

heory

f

rights

as

more

r

ess

precise,

ecause t

was

an

ideologyxpressive

f

the

ctual

situation

Ausdrucksideologie);

ut now

Social relations

ave under-

gone

fundamental

hange,

nd we

proceed pon

he

ptimisticssump-

tion hat hey ill hiftvermorenfavor ftheworking

lass. 1

Under

these

onditions,

he

deology

f

rights

ill

ake uch

forms s

Rudolf

Smend's

heory

f

integration,

hich llows

lmost

nything

o be

construeds

having

een

n

accord

with

he undamental

ill

f

the on-

stituent

eople,

because t has become

nothing

more

han

n

ideology

that

obscures he actual ituation

Verdeckungsideologie).28

f Parlia-

ment

were o

endorse he

presentendency

f

thecourts

rbitrarily

o

24. Ibid., p. 524.

25. Ibid.

26.

Ibid.,

p.

525.

27.

Ibid.,

p.

521.

28. Neumann

s

referring

o

Rudolf

Smend,

Verfassung

nd

Verfassungsrecht

Munich

and

Leipzig:

Duncker

&

Humblot,

1928).








David

Kettler

Volker

Meja

639

impose

heir

ague

new

heory

f

constitutional

ights

pon

the

aw,

t

would eriouslyeopardizehe furtherevelopmentf social aw and

the

further

ocial

forming

f the aw.

Especially

hreatening

o

the ocialist

egislativerogram,

n

his

view,

are

liberalisticubstantive

eadings

f the

constitutional

uarantee

f

equality

efore he aw.

The

potential

onflicts e

envisionsnclude

judicialchallenges

o the

specialmonopolistic

ollective

ole of

trade

unions,

ttacks

n measures

hich

ollow

ut

propertyights

y

con-

struing

he

guarantee

f the nstitution

ery

arrowly,

hile

uilding

n

the

Constitution's

rovision

hat

roperty'specific

laims re

ubject

o

determinationy aw,and udicial nvalidationfproposalsikeNeu-

mann's

wnfor

ontrolling

onopolies

nd cartels

y cutting

ff

heir

right

f

appeal

o

the

ourts

rom

egulatory

ecisions

y

dministrative

agencies.

Most ndicativefNeumann's

argertrategicesign

s

hisfear

that

udicial

eview

might

e usedto

perpetuate

he

stablished

octrine

of

parity

etween

mployers

nd

workers

ven

fter ocial

development

has

made

t

possible

o move

beyond

t.

In the

onger

erm,

he

main

oint

s that he

demand or

arity

hich

was satisfied

n

the

postwar

ettlement

nd

embodied

n

the

onstitution

is to be viewedsprovisionalnly,ndasa legal xpressionf a state f

the

ontending

ocial

forces;

hile

he

emocraticonstitutional

cheme,

in

ts ocial

s well s

in

ts

political

imensions,

s

to

be seen

s a

frame-

work

or

orming

nd

reforming

hese

xpressions.

he

rights enerated

are to be viewed

s valid

organizingrinciples,

o

be

effectuated

n

the

courts

s

well

s

in

therelevant

perations

f

other

olitical

nd social

agencies,

ut

he

nterpreting

nd

securing

f those

ights

s to

be

depen-

dent n

political

means,

nd

thus

ltimately

n

the

ontending

ocial

nd

political

orces.

pecialized

ourts,

ike the

abor,

tax,

and economic

courts,anplay nimportant,artiallyndependentole n this rocess,

because heir

loseness o

the

ocial

functions

t

issue nd to the

major

social ctors

nvolvedmakes t

unlikely

hat

hey

would

lace rbitrary,

ideologically-grounded

bstacles

n

the

way

f ocial

development

ndof

the

corresponding

nterplay

mong

social forces.

But

a

high

court

endowedwith

onstitutional

owers,

emote rom

he ocialmatters

t

issue,

might

e led

to such

anti-socialxcesses s

mark

he

American

courts.

Writing

few

months

ater,

n the

ccasion

f the

enth

nniversary

of theWeimarConstitution,rnstFraenkel ttemptso meetCarl

Schmitt's

bjection

hat

the social

democracy,

n

whichNeumann's

29.

Neumann,

Demokratischer

nd

autoritiirer

taat,

pp.

538

and

530.








640

The

Reconstitution

f

Political

ife

reconstructive

esign

epends,

acks

political ctuality.

or

Schmitt,

constitutional

ystem

erivests

actuality

rom

n

effectivelyustainedexistentialecision.

arliamentarism,

e

maintains,

epresents

charac-

teristically

iberal

ttempt

o

temporize

bout uch decision. ut the

actualdecline f

parliaments,

hich e

seesas

only

xaggerated

n

the

Weimar

ase,

proves

hat here anbe no such

olitical

onstitution.

he

issue

n

1918-1919

ad been

choice etweenocialism

nd

capitalism;

the effective

hoice

made was to retain he

existing

echtsstaat,

political-legal

rder

n

the ervice

f

capitalism.

ll

political

ffices

nd

arrangements

ust

ultimately

erve his

objective,

hatever

osmetic

concessionso other esignsmay epresentn the urface;nd henter-

pretations

f

public

aw

must

make

ure

hat

here

re

ufficient

owers

in

thehands f

those

ompetent

o act

n

the

ongoing mergency,

ince

limitations

lacedupon

hose

owers

or

he ake

of

parliamentary

re-

tensions

imply

means

hat

he

tate s

mpotent

o

constitute

he

hosen

order nd

to mobilize

gainst

ts

foes.The

constitutional

uarantees

f

the

entral

apitalist

nstitutionsre

secure,

moreover,

ven

gainst

he

amendingroceduresxpresslyrovided

n

the

Constitution.30

Like

Neumann,

raenkel

ccepts

chmitt's

nalysis

f

all

effective

constitutional-legalesignsshaving vitalizingenter hichspolitical

in

an

existentialistense

althoughhey

lso

subscribe,

t a

different

evel

of

analysis,

o a

sociohistorical

heory

f such

xistential

ecisions);

ut

bothFraenkelnd

Neumann

isagree

ith

chmittbout

he xistential

decision made

in

Weimar

n

1919.

Moreover,

raenkel

oncedes

Schmitt's

laim

hat he

parliament

tself as become

n almost

egligi-

ble factor ithinhe

political

ystem,

ince he lose

inkage

etweenhe

party

ystem

nd the

political

eadershipstensiblyesponsible

or he

ministriesas

put

he

arliament

t

the

mercy

fthe

ermanent

fficials.

In the bsence fa feasible otationetweenovernmentndopposi-

tion,

he

arty

eaders

re ied o

broad

oalitions

nd

ccordingly

ound

to defend he

policies

f the

officials

n

thevarious

ministries,

ut

ack

the

politicalupport

eeded

o

mpose olicy

irections

pon

hem.

ar-

liament

as ceased

o

be

a

center

f

political

nterest

r

public

ttention.

Parliament,

owever,

raenkel

maintains,

as

never ntended

o

be

the

only

ehicle

or he

new

democracy.

he ast

rticle f

theWeimar

Constitution,

orwhich inzheimeras

responsible,

ad

ought

o

ncor-

porate

he1918-19

mass

movementor ouncil

emocracy,

nvisioning

dualstructurefworkers'ouncils nd economicouncils hatwould

interact ith

neanother

ndwith

arliamento

bring

bout

n increas-

30.

Carl

Schmitt,

VerfassungslehreMunich

and

Leipzig:

Duncker

&

Humblot,

1928).








642

The Reconstitution

f

Political

ife

and

Utopia

pens

with discussion

f the

political

risis aused

by

all

parties owmaking se of a device nce reservedo Marxists. ach

unmasks

he

positions

dvanced

y

the

others s

nothing

ut nterest-

bound

deology,

o that

one anretain

ny

onfidence

nthe

bjectivity

of

even

heir

wn

perceptions

nd claims.

his

s the

mpasse

which he

sociology

f

knowledge

s

to

help

overcome,

n

partby

reassuring

ach

and

every

arty

hat ll

political nowledge

s

perspectival.

he

nterven-

tion

s meant

o foster

inds

f

exchanges

etween

he

parties

hich an

achieve

mediation,

lthough

hese

cannot ver

correspond

o the

rationalistic

free

xchange

f deas

projected

y

iberalism.12

Mannheim'sxpectationsboutthese xchangesredecisivelynflu-

enced

y

hisconfrontation

ith

evolutionary

arxism.

n

treating

nd

implicitlyriticizing

he ocialist-communist

onception

f therelation-

ship

between

heory

nd

practice,

central

heme

n

the

book's

most

important

ssay,

Mannheim

haracterizes

he

Marxian

onception

f

politics

s a

Realdialektik.

ctors

epresenting

eal social

factors ake

one another's

measure

nd

cumulatively

evelop sequence

f

real

situations

ach

of which

n

turn

rovides

he

tarting

oint

or he

next

phase

f

development.

uite

part

rom

Marxism,

e

contends,

eknow

that his s a more dequate ccount fparliamentaryoliticalnstitu-

tions han

iberalism

ffers.

arl

Schmitt

as

exposed

he

iberalllusion

that

arliaments

re societies

or

he

discovery

f

truth

hrough

iscus-

sion.

But,

Mannheim

oints

ut,

he

Marxist

ersion f

this

real

con-

testation

nvisions

moment

f

revolutionary

verturn,

hen ll

the

contradictions

re

dialectically

vercome.

his s

precisely

he

point

t

which

e

ceases o

find

he

Marxist

model

ersuasive.

As

Mannheim's

nalysis roceeds,

eaving

he

xposition

f the

dif-

ferent

deological

tandpoints

ehind,

tbecomes

lear

hat

is ulminat-

ingconceptionf a politicswhichhas beenbrought eyond ritical

impasse hrough

he

ntervention

f

the

ociology

f

knowledge

mounts

to

a

regularization

f that

real

process,

ithout

he

dramatic

isrup-

tions nd

presumed

ranscendent

econciliations

chieved

y

thedefini-

tive

evolution

xpected

y

heMarxists.

rom

his

oint

f

view,

t s a

decisive

misunderstanding

f

Mannheim's

dmittedly

mbiguous

hesis

about

heroleof

the

ocially

nattached

ntelligentsia

o

depict

hem

s

functionallyquivalent

o

the lass-conscious

roletariat.

n

Mannheim,

their ontributions

o

synthesis

re

more

early

atalytic

han

etermina-

32.

Karl

Mannheim,

Ideologie

und

Utopie,

pp.

108ff.

The

English

translation

f

Ideologie

und

Utopie

deletes

he

ntroductory

iscussion

f the Weimar

political

ontext,

and this minor

hange

seriously

ffects

he overalleffect

f

the

argument.








David

Kettler

Volker

Meja

643

tive,

nd the

synthesis

n

question

s

more

nearly process

han n

achievedtate. hismove oward n alternativeonceptionfsynthesis

is

clarified

y

he

pattern

iscernible

n

the

ecently

ecovered

ull

ext

f

Conservatism.33speciallymportant

n

this

espect

s

Mannheim's

on-

trast etween

hedistinct

onceptions

f

dialectics

nd

ynthesis

ound

n

the

hought

f

Hegel

ndAdam

Muiller,

oth f

whom

etreats

s

repre-

sentative

onservativehinkers.

In its

design,

s

in

its

contents,

annheim's

tudy

f

conservatism

keeps

ooking

head

o

Hegel.

Throughout,

annheim

epeatedly

ntici-

pates

hediscussion

f

dialectics

s

the

highest

ode

f

thinking

ooted

inconservativerecedent,nd heprojectshe dealofa trulyranscen-

dent

ynthesis

s the

ltimate

bjective

f

his wnmethod.

n

his

prelim-

inary

ccounts

f

such

dialectic,

ialectical

hinkingrows

ut

of

an

earlier

chieved

wareness

f

opposition

nd

movement,

nd

t

conceives

of

synthesis

s

comprehensive

nd

as

groundedntologically

n

theulti-

mately

nowable

ynamics

f

reality.

Mannheim

ppears

o

accept

he

claim hat

Hegel uccessfully

anaged

o

rationalize hatRomanticnd

Enlightenmenthought

ad

achieved,

ntegrating

t

nto

single ompre-

hensive

heory

f

development

nder

onservative

uspices.

And

he

asserts hat hisdiscovery assubsequentlyransmutedyMarx,who

changed

ts function

ramatically,

nto n

organon

or

class

better

placed

to

counter

apitalist-liberal

ationalizations.

ut

Mannheim's

announced

nd

anticipated

ection n

Hegel

was never

written.

t

is

introduced

y

the ast entence

f

the

manuscript

annheim

ubmitted

to hisexaminersor heHabilitation.

annheim'sreatment

f

Hegel,

notto

speak

of

Marx,

emained

ragmentary

nd

programmatic.34

We believe hatMannheim's ailure o write he

Hegel

ection

r

to

elaborate heMarx

nterpretation

re

important

luesto

his

thinking.

They epresentignificantnfinishedusiness hich ecouldnotcom-

plete.

Mannheim

onsistentlyccepted

LukAcs's

rgument

hat the

socialist

orm f

dialectical

hinkingepends

n a commitmento

the

modernndustrial

roletariat

s

the

oncreteocial

force

estined

o

take

thenext

tep

n

history.

hiswas

a

commitment,owever,

hichMann-

heimneverwould

make.

Mannheim's

roblem,

f

he was to follow

through

ith

he

projectionsrising

rom

is

philosophical

eflections,

was

to

find n alternative

ay

f

earning

he

ight

o thekind

f

dialec-

33.

The

following

aragraphs

re

dapted

rom

ettler,

eja,

nd

Stehr,

Karl

Mann-

heim nd

Conservatism.

34.

Cp.

Mannheim'similar

rojection

f a

genuinely

ialectical

hilosophy

f

history

as

something

hich

an be

expected

o

emergepontaneously

n

time,

n his

Sociological

Theory

f Culturend ts

Knowability,

tructures

f

Thinking,

p.

175ff.








644

The Reconstitution

f Political

ife

tical

ntegration

hich

Hegel

had

grounded

n

conservativeommit-

mentsndmetaphysicaleasonings,ndwhichMarxhadgroundedn

revolutionary

ocialist ommitmentsnd

economic

nalysis.

He

could

not

accept

ither.

n

the

absence

f

sucha

way,

dialectical

ynthesis

remainedn

uncompleted

ketch

or

him,

n

aspiration

ithoutmmedi-

ate effect

n

what

ouldbe done

n

theory

r

practice.

This

difficulty

larifies

annheim'sreatmentf

Adam

Miller

n this

work.

t

explains

he

mportance

hat

Mannheim

ssigns

o

Mialler's

on-

ceptions

f

dialectics

nd

synthesis

nd t

provides

clue

to

the

role

of

this

onception

n

the

ery esign

f

Mannheim'swn

tudy.

or

Mialler,

accordingoMannheim,ynthesiss mediation. tsmain haracteris-

tics

are, first,

hat t

takes

things

o be in

mutual

ppositions

nd,

second,

hat t

equates

hinking

ith

he ctive

udgement

f

practition-

ers

expounding

n

efficaciousolution

o

a

given

onflict,

judgement

which

hey

omehow

erive

rom

racking

he ourse f the

ppositions

involved.Mannheim

onsiders

his

way

of

thinking

o

be

practical et,

like

Hegel's,

o be an

mportant

lternativeo the

rational-progressive

conception

f

understanding,

hich

epends

xclusively

n a

systematic

subsumption

f

particulars

nder

eneral

aws.

ts

effectiveness

epends

notonly n its nsightnto he ontestingorces nd tspartial ccom-

modation o

them,

ut

lso

on

an aestheticense f the

way

n

which

given

udgement

its he tate f the

oppositions

o which

t

applies.

n

other

ontexts,

annheim

peaks

f

this

s a

capacity

or

omprehend-

ing

contexture

s

a situation

nd then

cting

n

that ituation.

uch

judgement

eets he

practical roblem,

ut

tdoesnot

hereby

liminate

the

oppositions

r

subject

hem

o

logical ystematization.

annheim

uses the

erm

synthesis

o

refer

o

the

udgementsistinguishing

his

way

of

thinking,

uthe stresseshat hecharacter

f

each

synthesis

f

thiskinddepends nthe tandpointromwhichtoriginatesr,more

actively,

n

the

design

which t

mplements.

here

s movementoward

accommodation

nd

incorporation

f

opposites,

ut

no

reintegration

into

comprehensive

ew

otality

radicating

he

old

oppositions,

s

is

supposed

o

happen

n

thedialectical

hinking

nvisioned

yHegel.

Despite

he lear tructural

arallels

etween

annheim's

onception

of

mediationnd the

socialist

urists'

onception

f

the

constitution,

there re two

fundamentalifferences

hich

eriously

imited

Mann-

heim's

bility

o

gain

more

han

fascinated

urface

earing

n this

art

ofthe oliticalniverse.hefirst ifferenceoncernshe irectionf he

dynamism

ithinhe

mediatedtructures.

or

Mannheim,

he situa-

tion s

charged

ith

potential

owards omenext

tep,

butto

udge

whether

articipants

omprehend

heir ituation

dequately

an

only

e

done

by

n

impreciseegative

tandard

hat ondemns

ctualizing

rac-








David

Kettler

Volker

Meja

645

tices

which

re

manifestly

rrational.

or

socialist

urists,

he

socialist

telos s a given,fonlynwhat heyake o bethe oncretespirationsf

the

working

lassmovement

nd ts

ccumulated

nd

growing

rganiza-

tional

power.

The

second

difference

oncerns he constitution

f

the

structures. annheim onsiders

he

public

nterpretation

f

reality

s

constitutive

f

practice,

otwithstanding

is

mphasis

n the

ocial

xis-

tence

nderlying

he

diverse

nterpretations,

o

that

he

ntegrative

truc-

ture

mustbe

a

knowledge,

science,

mode

of

consciousness.he

jurists,

n

contrast,

re

ooking

t

a

complex

f

organized

olitical

rac-

tices,

formalized

n

importantart

nto various

egal

modalities

nd

institutions.

Neumann nd Mannheim oth

identify

he old

legal

orderwith

capitalism,

iberalism,

nd

a

theory

f

universal aturalaw. Both

find

important

ints nd

premonitions

n

conservative

ritiques

f

natural

law.

The

striking

nd

puzzling

hing

s

thatMannheim

orked

o

hard

and so

brilliantly

n the

group

f

conservative

urists

e

studied

ut

never

ddressed

hefact

hat

hey

ere

working

way

t

the

aw

and

not

simply ngaged

n

the

deological

efense

gainst

he

Enlightenment.

Mannheim

ssumes

hat

egal

discourse s such

s

bound

up

with

he

rationalized,tatic, inished imension f things,whereasNeumann

seeksto

bring

nto

effect

changed

nd

transformative

egal

mode.

Neumann's

uridical

iscourse

ccordingly

an

thereforetill

erform,

n

conjunction

ith ocial

organizations

n

the

political

ield,

venwhen

ts

strategicbjectives

renot chieved.

Mannheim'smbitionf ntroduc-

ing

self-reflectiveomentnto

olitical

ontestations,

o

as

to circum-

scribe

hem

within common

ituational

oundary,roves

ommunica-

ble

merely

s a

claim o

power

f

sorts n behalf f

ntellectuals.

With he

growing

risis

f theWeimar

epublic,

nd

especially

fter

itscollapse, othprojects ordynamicmediationppeared opelessly

misconceived. fter

930,

even

Sinzheimerbandoned

hope

for

the

transformative

apabilities

f labor

aw

and

perforce

lso

for

ts rele-

vance s a

paradigm

or

econstitution;

nd

Neumann's

ritings

n

exile

vigorously

harge

he

eformistabormovement

f

Weimar

ith

aving

operated

n

conceptions

f

awandstatewhich

ere ot

nly

seless

or

their

rofessed

bjectives

utwhich lso

contributedo the

destruction

of

the

minimumf

rationality

hich

he iberal rderhad

provided.

Mannheim,

n

turn,

ncreasingly

hifted

is

mphasis

rom

conception

ofsociologyfknowledges a therapeuticnterventionn a processhat

would emain

ssentially

onflictual

nd

political

oward

conception

f

such

nquiry

s

preliminary

o and

an

aid n

the

cientific

anagement

f

society

n

accordance

ith

nstrumental

ationality.

Yet

recent iscussionsfalternativeso

hyper-legalisticegulation

r








646 The Reconstitutionf Political

ife

anti-social

eregulation

n

thewelfaretate

haverevivednterest

n

the

Weimar eformistxperiencesnneo-corporatistrganizationnd the

attempted

onstitutionalization

f

self-regulatory

onflictual

egal

arrangements,long

the ines of

Sinzheimer's

nd

Neumann's

abor

law. 3

We thinkhatMannheim's

oncept

f

politically

onstituted

yn-

thesis

n

the

deological

ield as

comparablexperiential

alue s

a

point

of referenceor riticalheoreticaleflection.

Thomas

McCarthy

ecently

oved

lightly

n

this

direction,

hen e

made

Mannheim's

ociology

f

knowledge

he

point

f

departure

n his

guest

ecture

n

Habermas's

rankfurteminar.16 fter

rief

onsidera-

tion,hefinds hatHorkheimern 1930 ndAdorno n 1937havesaid

practically

ll that eeds o be said

bout

Mannheim.

uthis onclusions

seem

premature,

irst,

ecause

he

accepts

he

traditional

ccount

f

Mannheim's

heory;

econd,

ecausehe treats

arlier

onfidencebout

dialecticalnd

rational

ruth

s

applicable

o the

farmore

roblematic

and

syncretistic

tandards

f

present-day

ritical

heory;

nd

third,

nd

most

mportant,

ecausehe shifts

iscussion

rom heconstitution

f

practical

ocial

and

political nowledge

o

philosophical

roblems

f

rational

tandards.

n

consequence,

e

overlookshe

mportance

frevo-

lutionaryistoricalntologys premiserprojectnthewritingsf the

earlier

rankfurt

chool,

ndthe xtent

o

which heir

cornful

ejection

of

Mannheim

epended

n

their

onfidence

n

this

esign.

Horkheimer

rote

n

1930,

Marx

wanted o

transform

hilosophy

into

positive

cience

nd

nto

ractice.

heultimatentent

f he

ociol-

ogy

of

knowledge,

owever,

s

a

philosophical

ne. t

s

troubled

bout

the

problem

fabsolute

ruth,

ts

form nd

ts

ontents,

nd t ees

s

its

mission he lluminationf this

matter. 3 cCarthy

eems o

find

n

Horkheimernswers

o

the

questions

which

Horkheimerscribes o

Mannheim. erhapswe should eek ouradvice nstead romnother

early

ritic

f Mannheimnd themost

persistentlyoliticallyngaged

thinker

f

the Frankfurtchool: Herbert

Marcuse.He concluded

is

1929 eview

ith

general

ndication

f a

possible

olution

f the

prob-

lems

bout ocial

knowledge

hich

Mannheim

ad

posed,

but nded

y

cautioning

hat

this,however,

ill

only

be

possible-and

Mannheim

35.

Giinther

eubner,

Dilemmas

of

Law

in

the

Welfare

tate

Berlin

nd New

York:

DeGruyter, 986); fora review nd analysisof theparallels, ee David Kettler, Legal

Reconstitutionf theWelfare

tate:

A

LatentSocial Democratic

egacy,

Law &

Society

Review 21:1

(1987):

9-47.

36.

Philosophie

und

Wissenssoziologie.

ur

Aktualitat

er

kritischen

heorie,

June,

1985

Unpublished ypescript).

37.

Ein

neuer

deologiebegriff?

n

Meja

and

Stehr,

Der

Streit,

.

479.








David

ettler

olker

eja

47

has

learly

lluded

o

his

imself-ifhese

ssues

re

ot

remlosedrvenushedsideutressimilatendursuoheiultimateonclusions.arcuseentnoay,Recoveheroorenuineommitmentithouthichoumanxisteanon

urvive,

an

nly

echieved

y

ntering

nto

istory

ot

y

oi

eyond

t.

arlannheim'sooks

major

tep

n

his

irec

arcuseould

ot

aveikedur

iscoveries

long

hatistor

ay

ut

hatisotmatterithinur

ower

oecide.e

re

onf

with

roblems

f

onstituting

easonable

ocial

iscourndnrd

openousticeatherhanithrospectsfevolutindanmayelpithuchroblems.

David Kettler Volker

Meja

647

has

clearly

lluded o

this

himself-if hese

ssues

re

not

prematurely

closedor evenpushed sidebutare assimilatedndpursued o their

ultimateonclusions.

arcuse

went n to

say,

Recovering

he

round

for

genuine

ommitment

ithout

hich o human

xistencean

long

survive,

an

only

be achieved

y

entering

nto

history,

ot

bygoing

beyond

t.Karl Mannheim's ook s a

major

tep

nthis

direction. '3

Marcusewouldnothave iked ur

discoveries

long

hat istorical

ay;

but

hat s not matter ithin ur

power

o decide.We

are

confronted

with

roblems

f

constituting

reasonableocialdiscoursendan order

open

o

ustice

atherhanwith

rospects

f

revolution.ndMannheim

mayhelpwith uchproblems.

38.

Zur

ahrheitsproblemat

er

oziologischen

ethoden

eja

nd

tehr,

er

Streit,

.

72.

8.

Zur

Wahrheitsproblematik

er

oziologischen

ethode n

Meja

and

Stehr,

er

Streit,

.

472.

contemporary relevance of karl mannheim

Documents