Mapping the History of Sociology

of Austrian and Viennese sociology: the early 20th century. In this early period of its establishment, the Austrian (and especially Viennese) sociology is known for its intellectual vitality, the
diversity of its competing circles, its methodological innovations. At the same time, sociology
appeared as a highly fragmented scientific field with dominant strands, today on the fringes of
the discipline, and with peripheral and marginalized trends and positions, appreciated today as
pioneers of modern sociology. By applying a topographic approach, the paper elaborates specific
characteristics of this field, including the different degree of institutionalization in and outside the
Universities, in connection with political and ideological struggles for discursive hegemony, or
the deep gap between theoretical and empirical approaches, related to the effects of multidimensional and intersectional marginalization on protagonists of the sociological field who are today
recognized as important innovators. With its focus on the material dimension of knowledge production and its particular attention to places and the localization of actors, methods, and thoughts,
and the related (unequal) positions in the social field of science, the paper aims to contribute to
a critical understanding of processes of marginalization as a constitutive, and driving, element in
science history.