Gabriel Tarde's L Topinion Et La Foule

6 9 -1 8 ,4 7 2 EMMANUEL, Artemis, 1923- GABRIEL TARDE’S L TOPINION ET LA FOULE: A RE-EVALUATION OF ITS RELEVANCE TO THE SOCIOLOGY OF PUBLIC OPINION. The American University, Ph.D., 1969 Sociology, general University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan (C)Copyright by Artemis Emmanuel 1969 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. GABRIEL TARDE'S L'OPINION ET LA FOULE; A RE~EVALUATION*OF ITS RELEVANCE TO THE SOCIOLOGY OF PUBLIC OPINION by Artemis Emmanuel Submitted to the Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of the American University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology Dean of the College AMERICAN uN.VLrto LIBRARY 1969 MA Y 22 1961: The American University Washington, , D..C. Washington, n. r 3 1 ^ 3 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. PREFACE This study has been conceived and designed in response to current trends in sociology toward a creative re-examina tion of problems and perspectives formulated in earlier times and different lieus, trends stimulated and accelerated by a broader need for the continuous extending and deepening of the scope of sociological inquiry. In carrying out this study, the specific purpose and approach of which are discussed in the first two chapters, I have had the invaluable guidance and assistance of an advis ory committee composed of distinguished scholars, sociolo gists. and academic teachers. Dr. Austin Van der Slice, the Chairman, an intent student of Gabriel Tarde's work, provided generously important advice and sustained my confidence dur ing my .inquiry into Tarde1 s L ' Opinion et la Foule, this largely unknown text of the "forgotten sociologist." Dr. Gillian L. Gollin received enthusiastically the idea of this study, and she contributed liberally helpful direction throughout the successive stages of this work and especially in the effort to deal with the intricate question of the convergence of "classical" theory and empirical studies in public opinion research, a question which is at the center lii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. of her academic interests and research endeavors. Dr. Morris Rosenberg has greatly helped me with his stimulating teaching as well as with his instructive suggestions and enlightened judgment. Dr. Robert T. Bower, Director of the Bureau of SocxaJ Research, well-known for his contributions to the field of public opinion study, by his interest in my work and by accepting to be a member of the dissertation committee, has given me special encouragement. I am deeply indebted and immensely grateful to all. I would also like to express my sincere thanks and appreciation to the prominent French scholars and sociolo gists, Professor Raymond Aron of the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Professor Jean Stoetzel and Professor Georges Friedmann of the Centre d ‘Etudes Sociologiques, and Professor Serge Moscovici by the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, who in answering promptly to my inquiry about Gabriel Tarde reinforced me in my aspiration to deal with and present his ideas .. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE .................................................... iii Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION: THE PROBLEM ............... 1 Gabriel Tarde's L 'Opinion et la Foule: A Case of Convergence of Early Theory and Current Sociological Concerns II. THE NATURE AND SCOPE OF THE STUDY ...... 8 The Analysis The Assessment III. GABRIEL TARDE: THE "FORGOTTEN SOCIOLOGIST". 19 Tarde Seen through the Eyes of his Contemporaries The Provincial Magistrate Tarde's Intellectual Formation: "The Tour of the Sciences"; the Disciple of Cournot; His Own Master The "Individualist Sociologist," an International Figure Gabriel Tarde; "A Sociologist Ahead of his Time" IV. THE FIELD OF PUBLIC OPINION: A MULTI DISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVE 55 The Pre-history of the Public Opinion Concept The Emergence of the Public Opinion Concept Early Theories of Public Opinion in the Context of Theories of the State Toward a Science of Public Opinion Toward an Inter-disciplinary Approach v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Chapter Page V. SOCIOLOGY AND THE STUDY OF PUBLIC OPINION . 88 From "Crowd Psychology" to"Collective Behavior" Sociological Theorists of Public Opinion The Emergence of a Methodological Orientation Convergence of Theoretical and Methodolog ical Concerns VI. GABRIEL TARDE ON PUBLIC OPINION .............. 122 Tarde's Broader Theoretical Framework Public Opinion a Central Concern of Tarde's Sociology Gabriel Tarde's L 'Opinion et la Foule: The development of Public Opinion The Crowd and the Public: The Two Poles of Social Evolution The Emergence and Development of the Public Types of Crowds and Publics Conversation, a Factor of Public Opinion L 'Opinion et la Foule, a Work Rich in Significant Implications VI.I. SOCIOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS IN TARDE ' S APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF PUBLIC OPINION . 154 Problems and Areas of Public Opinion Research Highlights Among Tarde's General Propos itions Concluding Remarks APPENDIX ................................................. 163 Opinion and the Crowd by Gabriel Tarde in an English Translation from the French First Edition Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Chapter Page BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................... 358 Books by Gabriel Tarde Articles by Gabriel Tarde Translations of Tarde1s Works Reviews and Analyses of Tarde's Works Biographical and Critical References to Gabriel Tarde Selected References on Public Opinion Research and Theory vii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION; THE PROBLEM Gabriel Tarde's L 'Opinion et la Foule; A Case of Convergence of Early Theory and Current Sociological Concerns The purpose of this study is to present and to analyze a sociological theory of public opinion. The field of public opinion has not been fully explored by sociologists. Though it is receiving increasing attention, the findings derived from sociological studies have not yet been systemat ically coordinated or related to the findings of other social scientists, in particular political scientists and economists. A review of the literature on public opinion in various disciplines reveals that most authors ignore the views and findings developed in the "other" disciplines. A certain degree of parochialism seems to character ize contemporary sociology as a whole although there are positive signs of efforts to overcome this tendency. As a rule, there is little interest shown in other disci plines: concentrating on what is "current" research, sociolo gists give scanty attention to past work to the history of Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ) ? the discipline; finally, little is read of what is not writ ten in English. William R. Catton, Jr., referring to the first trend advocates that sociologists today should . resist the temptation to define only sociologists as the in-group, excluding contact with theories and con cepts from other disciplines, for history permits the conclusion: Sociological thought has sufficiently come of age so that it can afford to lower its protective intellectual tariffs.^ Paul F. Lazarsfeld's article "Public Opinion and the Classical Tradition" emphasizes the merits of considering the history of one's discipline: . If we were dealing with a field like chemistry, or any other natural science, we would be rather confi dent that any new phase incorporated what was of value in past work; .... In the social sciences the situa tion is not as simple .... First, empirical develop ment usually furnishes sharper conceptual tools . what was only dimly perceived before can now often be discerned with clarity, and, as a result, new implica tions of all sorts can be brought to light .... Secondly, the very act of inspecting this classical material brings to our attention ideas which might otherwise have been overlooked .... Because . empirical researchers are likely to be guided too much by what is a manageable topic at the moment, rather than by what is an important issue . .^ W. R. Catton, Jr., "The Development of Sociological Thought," The Handbook of Modern Sociology, ed. by Robert E. L. Faris (Chicago: Rand McNally & Co., 1964), p. 947. 2 Paul F. Lazarsfeld, "Public Opinion and the Classical Tradition," Public Opinion Quarterly, XXI (1957), 40-41. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 3 Everett C. Hughes also refers to both the lack of a creative consideration of the work of past sociologists and the reluctance to overcome the language barrier, We tend rather to sketchy and stereotyped knowledge of sociologists of previous generations .... The matter of language is related to our knowledge of past work, for much of it is in other languages, and we Americans, the world's linguistically most crippled of all people who claim to be scholars, are completely dependent upon the accidents of translation for whatever is written in other languages .... Still, there is in sociology today a slowly growing concern about bringing back

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