The Relevance of Simmel’s Sociology

Otthein Rammstedt was an outstanding sociologist who spent most of his life editing Georg Simmel’s Gesamtausgabe, or collected works. Rammstedt gave much of his strength and energy to get this important publication completed. In 1993, to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Simmel’s death, we put together a selection of his works and the articles written in his honor which was published in 1994 in the second issue of the Sociological Journal. Rammstedt then provided us with his manuscript on Simmel which we are going to republish in the Sociological Education section of our quarterly. His manuscript deserves to be published anew, not just for sad reasons — in the last issue, we announced that Ramstedt passed away after having completed his huge body of work — but also for reasons that are quite substantial. Classical sociology may seem to be a completed project, but it is still a resource that has not been fully exhausted or fully evaluated. The article by Rammstedt, who was experienced not only in the history of sociology but in its theory as well and was the long-term dean of the Faculty of Sociology in Bielefeld University, one of the most renowned sociological institutions in Europe, allows us to see how much we can take from the legacy of the classics. His text has obviously retained its considerable suitability, but, like many classical sociological writings, it needs a new revision or even perhaps a new translation. In any case, we hope this publication will give a new impetus to the study of Simmel’s writings as well as of sociological classics, while at the same time paying a debt of gratitude to the prominent German sociologist, Otthein Rammstedt

80th anniversary of the journal Sociološki Pregled/Serbian Sociological Review

In 2018, the journal Sociološki Pregled/Sociological Review celebrated its 80th anniversary. The first Serbian sociological journal Društveni Život/ Social Life was published in Belgrade in 1920 and 1921, and then renewed in 1930 in Novi Sad. The editor-in-chief and publisher of this journal was Mirko Kosić, a professor at the Faculty of Law in Subotica. After establishing Society for Legal Philosophy and Sociology in 1935 and Society for Sociology and Social Sciences in 1938, a new sociological journal - Sociological Review , edited by a professor from the Faculty of Law in Belgrade, Đorđe Tasić - began to be published. Thematically it covered various sociological disciplines and other social sciences for sociology is a multidisciplinary science. The work of the Sociological Society and the journal was interrupted by the II World War, in which Đorđe Tasić was killed. Other members of the Society for Sociology and Social Sciences and associates of Sociološki Pregled were no longer interested in sociology and sociological topics. Sociološki Pregled was renewed in 1961 by the Serbian Sociological Society, first as a collection of papers and then as a journal in 1964. Since then, the journal has been an active participant of scientific and academic life in this region providing an overview of current trends in sociology in the world and in our country. The intellectual elite of Serbia has participated in its publishing both directly and indirectly, both its oldest and prominent members and the youngest ones. About 200 issues of Sociološki Pregled with more than 30,000 pages were published from 1938 to 2018 and present a valuable material for sociological life and an irreplaceable information manual on decades of contemporary history of Serbia and Yugoslavia. Such a role could not have been played by any other journal. Sociološki Pregled is a theoretical journal, a manual, an informative newsletter, a reminder, a witness, an informer - all at the same time. That is why it is necessary to consider the journal in both historical and contemporary perspectives.