Les groupes sociaux du Moyen Âge et les débuts de la sociologie contemporaine

Medieval Social Groups and the Beginnings of Contemporary Sociology. Among the questions which in the works of Tönnies, Durkheim, Simmel and Max Weber, have constituted the foundation of the social sciences since the latter quarter of the nineteenth century, there are two which have played primordial role in classical sociological thought without receiving sufficient recognition. These are the problem of the Middle Ages and the modernity of the contemporary period and the role played by groups in society seen within the context of this same opposition between the two periods. The present article describes the positions of the four classical masters of sociology and emphasizes the current value of Max research on medieval sworn associations guilds and the communes in rela tion to the history of private law and arbitrary law Willkür and of the brother hood contract ("Verbrüderung"). Weber offers theory of the process of modernization and develops broad historical perspective which links Antiquity the Middle Ages the modern and contemporary periods in the Occident while it also integrates other civilizations into comparative perspective.Oexle Otto Gerhard, Chaix Florence. Les groupes sociaux du Moyen Âge et les débuts de la sociologie contemporaine. In: Annales. Économies, Sociétés, Civilisations. 47ᵉ année, N. 3, 1992. pp. 751-765