History of the Department

Ludwig Gumplowicz (1838-1909) was an professor at the University of Graz as early as the 19th century who championed the then new subject of sociology. This legal scholar (he got his habilitation for “Allgemeines Staatsrecht” (general constitutional law) in 1876, and a full professorship for “Verwaltungslehre und Österreichischem Verwaltungsrecht" (administrative theory and Austrian administrative law in 1893) published numerous sociological writings (including "Grundriss der Sociologie" in 1885), which were also translated into several languages and attracted international attention.

On the occasion of Gumplowicz's 70th birthday, a "Sociological Society" was founded in Graz in 1908 – making it the second oldest such organization in the German-speaking world after the Vienna Sociological Society (1907).

Between sociology and political economy
Joseph A. Schumpeter (1883-1950), who was appointed professor of Political Economy in Graz in 1911, also carried out explicitly sociological studies. Schumpeter was not only briefly Austrian Minister of Finance  in 1919, but – after a stopover in Bonn – worked at Harvard University from 1932 and was one of the most important economists of the first half of the 20th century. In 1918, his essay on “Die Krise des Steuerstaates” (The Crisis of the Tax State) appeared in the series "Zeitfragen aus dem Gebiet der Soziologie" (Contemporary issues in the field of sociology) published by the Graz Sociological Society. In 1919, Schumpeter published an analysis entitled “Zur Soziologie der Imperialismen”(On the Sociology of Imperialisms), and the essay on “Die sozialen Klassen im ethnisch homogenen Milieu” (The Social Classes in an Ethnically Homogeneous Milieu), published in 1927, also drew on ideas from Schumpeter's time in Graz.

Although sociology in Graz was closely linked to law and economics, the Department of Philosophy at the University of Graz was the first institution to establish a “Seminar für Philosophische Soziologie” (Seminar for Philosophical Sociology) in 1920, which emphasized the humanities perspective within sociology.

Establishment after the Second World War
The establishment of sociology at the University of Graz after the Second World War is closely linked to Johann Mokre (1901-1981), who was appointed full professor of law and political science after returning from emigration in 1949 and was responsible for teaching sociology in addition to philosophy of law and general political science, so that sociological dissertations could also be written from 1949. Mokre also endeavoured to promote sociology at an organizational level, for example by founding a “Landesgruppe Steiermark” (Styrian regional group) of the “Österreichischen Gesellschaft für Soziologie” (Austrian Sociological Association) in 1951.

The founding of the “Institut für Empirische Soziologie und Statistik” (Department for Empirical Sociology and Statistics) at the Faculty of Law and Political Science in 1958, which was divided into a Department for Statistics and a Department for Sociology in 1965, also goes back to Mokre's initiative. In 1968, Kurt Freisitzer (1928-2010) was appointed as a full professor of general sociology and social research. He also held the office of Rector of the University of Graz from 1981-1983.

International orientation of the institute
With the appointment of Karl Acham (1974), a full professorship for “Soziologische Ideengeschichte und Wissenschaftslehre” (Sociological History of Ideas and Science Studies) was created (from 1981 called “Abteilung für Soziologische Theorie, Ideengeschichte und Wissenschaftslehre” – Devision of Sociological Theory, History of Ideas and Science Studies). In 1976 Karl Acham and Kurt Freisitzer founded the “Gesellschaft für Soziologie an der Universität Graz (GSU)” (Society for Sociology at the University of Graz), which to this day contributes to the international orientation of sociology in Graz through its intensive lecturing activities.

Between theory and empirical research
In 1985, Max Haller was appointed as the third full professor and the devision of “Gesamtgesellschaftliche Analysen und Methoden der empirischen Sozialforschung” (General Social Analysis and Methods of Empirical Social Research) was founded. 

Thus the basic orientation of sociology at the University of Graz has been established, which can be characterized as unique, at least in Austria: On the one hand, there is a theoretical-historical focus – which was reinforced in 1987 by the founding of the “Archiv für die Geschichte der Soziologie in Österreich (AGSÖ)” (Archive for the History of Sociology in Austria) – and on the other hand, empirical social research is given broad scope, from various fields of applied sociology to international comparative studies.

Since the new faculty structure introduced by the “Universitätsorganisationsgesetz (UGO)" (University Organization Act) in 1975, the Department of Sociology has been part of the "Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences". At the teaching level, the aim in the following years was to establish a regular study programme in sociology, which was initially achieved by establishing a humanities branch of study (diploma course) in 1986, which was replaced in 2003 by a bachelor's and master's degree course in social and economic sciences, which was further developed after legal changes in 2007.

From the 1990s onwards, there were major changes in the organizational structure of Austrian universities, which also affected the employment status of the staff and the structure of the research units. The former devisions of the department were gradually replaced by research foci that represent the department in terms of research content. In addition to the full professors, the development of the department was also significantly influenced by the associate professors Gerald Angermann-Mozetič, Christian Fleck, Peter Gasser-Steiner, Gerhard Grossmann, Franz Höllinger, Helmut Kuzmics and Manfred Prisching.

With the appointment of Angelika Wetterer (2005), the department received the first Professorship for Gender Sociology in Austria.

With the appointments of Stephan Moebius (2009), Klaus Kraemer (2010), Libora Oates-Indruchova (2015) and Markus Hadler (2016), the Department of Sociology made important personnel decisions that have enabled the successful continuity of scientific research and academic teaching in Graz. A temporary professorship (Johanna Muckenhuber 2014-2019) supplemented the Department's portfolio for a while.

The following relevant publications on the history of sociology in Austria have been published by members of the department:

• Mozetič, Gerald (2011): Ludwig Gumplowicz – ein Grazer Pionier der Soziologie, in: Karl Acham (Hg.): Rechts-, Sozial- und Wirtschaftswissenschaften aus Graz. Zwischen empirischer Analyse und normativer Handlungsanweisung: wissenschaftsgeschichtliche Befunde aus drei Jahrhunderten. Wien-Köln-Weimar: Böhlau, pp. 433-448.
• Fleck, Christian (1993): A Marginal Discipline in the Making: Austrian Sociology in an European Context, in: Birgitta Nedelmann and Piotr Sztompka (eds.): Sociology in Europe: In Search of Identity. Berlin/New York: de Gruyter, pp. 99-118.
• Fleck, Christian (2010): Die Entwicklung der Soziologie in Österreich, in: Peter Biegelbauer (ed.): Steuerung von Wissenschaft? Die Governance des österreichischen Innovationssystems. Innsbruck: Studienverlag, pp. 259-296.

The Department of Sociology is also home to the “Archiv für die Geschichte der Soziologie in Österreich (AGSÖ)” (Archive for the History of Sociology in Austria. For its history, see:

• Reinhard Müller: Es begann vor zehn Jahren... Die Anfänge des Archivs für die Geschichte der Soziologie in Österreich, in: Archiv für die Geschichte der Soziologie in Österreich. Newsletter (Graz), Nr. 13 (Juni 1996), pp. 13-24..