The twilight of Belle Époque social sciences
Founded in 1902, the Solvay Institute of Sociology (SIS) was regarded as a pivotal institution in the emerging field of the social sciences at the beginning of the twentieth century. However, little is known about its development during and immediately after the First World War. In 1916, the SIS fa...
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| Format: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Sprog: | Français |
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2026
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| Online adgang: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Summary: | Founded in 1902, the Solvay Institute of Sociology (SIS) was regarded as a pivotal institution in the emerging field of the social sciences at the beginning of the twentieth century. However, little is known about its development during and immediately after the First World War. In 1916, the SIS faced a dual crisis: the sudden loss of its director, Émile Waxweiler, and the disruption of Belgian scientific life under German occupation. Drawing on the personal archives of the Solvay family and other collections, this article examines the period between Waxweiler’s death and the SIS’s 1923 integration into the Université libre de Bruxelles. It argues that the trajectory of the SIS was emblematic of broader shifts characterizing the European social sciences in the immediate postwar period and signaling the twilight of the Belle Époque intellectual tradition. |
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