Aron, Raymond

(1905-83)

A controversial French sociologist, Aron was professor of sociology at the Sorbonne from 1955 to 1968, and for some years a prominent member of the Mont Pelerin Society (although he later resigned). He was instrumental in introducing German sociology (especially Tönnies, Simmel, and Weber) to French social science via his German Sociology (1935). He also wrote an influential introduction to sociological theory (Main Currents in Sociological Thought, 1960 and 1962) in which he gave a special emphasis to the work of Alexis de Tocqueville . Aron disagreed profoundly with Marxism as a social science, and it was partly on these grounds that he was often a target of criticism, because in post-war French social philosophy Marxism was the dominant paradigm. Aron, by contrast, was more impressed by the work of Max Weber , an influence which is evident in publications such as Eighteen Lectures on Industrial Society(1956). He played an important part in the debate which followed the student protests of 1968 (see The Elusive Revolution, 1968), and also wrote more generally about the nature of power, political élites, and political organization. He had a specific interest in the work of Vilfredo Pareto in his approach to élites.

Aron's work is distinctive because of the attention which he gave to international relations and war-topics which are frequently neglected by sociologists. This interest is reflected in Peace and War (1962) and Clausewitz (1985).