Person Mannheim; Karl (1893-1947); sociologist

1893-1947 Born in Budapest in 1893 to a Hungarian father and German mother, Karl Mannheim was to become a founding father of classical sociology and one of the most criticised social theorists of his time. Much of the criticism levelled at Mannheim is based on the fact that he never had a closed and unified theory. Mannheim was educated in Budapest, Berlin, Paris and Freiburg where his professors included Lukacs and Edmund Husserl (in fact it was Lukacs who offered him a teaching position in 1919). Although originally interested in philosophy, Mannheim quickly turned his attentions to the human sciences swayed by the influences of Weber and Marx. The collapse of the Hungarian government saw Mannheim move to Germany to take up academic posts at Heidelberg and Frankfurt. However, as a Jew, he was forced out by the Nazi government in 1933. Consequently he was invited to England by Harold Laski where he became a lecturer in sociology at the London School of Economics. Once in England Mannheim fully embraced Anglo-Saxon pragmatism and he was also editor of the International Library of Sociology and Social Reconstruction. In 1935, he became a professor at the Institute of Education. Mannheim was an instrumental figure of the invention of the field sociology of knowledge and he made clear that the sociology of knowledge should be scientific rather than philosophical. His most influencial is 'Ideology and Utopia' published in 1929 in he argued that the application of the term ideology ought to be broadened. Mannheim was increasingly treated with suspicion by Marxists and neo-Marxists of the Frankfurt School who saw his theories on the knowledge as a betrayal of philosophical Marxist thought. Before he left Frankfurt in 1933 tensions between both camps ran high. Later Mannheim became part of the 'Moot' circle of (mainly) Christian socialist intellectuals which boasted such people as Joseph H. Oldham (the founder), Michael Polyani, John Middleton Murray and T. S. Eliot as its members, the later of which found Mannheim particularly influencial. Here he gained a reputation as a 'Utopian of the Right' for his more authoritarian views on society. Mannheim died in 1947 at the age of 53. Born: Budapest, 27 Mar 1893 Professional Work: Unsalaried Lecturer, University of Heidelburg, Germany, 1925; Professor of Sociology and Economics, University of Frankfurt, Germany, 1929; Lecturer in Sociology, LSE, London, 1933; Professor, Insitute of Education, London, 1935 Died: London, 09 Jan 1947 sociologist GB468 Information from http://www.bolender.com/Sociological%20Theory/Mannheim,%20Karl/mannheim,_karl.htm (26/06/2006), http://www.tasc.ac.uk/depart/media/staff/ls/Modules/Theory/Mannheim.htm (26/06/2006), http://www.radford.edu/~junnever/theory/mannheim.htm (26/06/2006). Personal Institute/Staff/Mannheim 26/07/2006 Znnlibyy 14/01/2009 Mkklibyz Mannheim; Karl (1893-1947); sociologist Mannheim Karl Male Károly Mannheim 'Ideology and Utopia', Karl Mannheim, 1929 (translated 1936) International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) - Ottawa 1996 ISBN 0-9696035-3-3 National Council on Archives, Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997 Yes 62a48d96-8d92-4ecd-ace9-89205997e98d