Social sciences developed through French National surveys
Summary and headline written by AI from the source article. How we work
In France, the development of social sciences began with national surveys intended to document traditions and understand the effects of industrialization.
Initially, researchers under the French Revolution and Empire aimed to create a repository of local traditions through investigations conducted by regional officials. This work helped construct a national identity by recording languages and customs.
Sociologist Frédéric Le Play, a graduate of the École polytechnique, extended this approach by studying workers across different departments with the help of his students and colleagues. Gildas Salmon’s research on British India demonstrates how colonial administrators relied on the knowledge and practices of colonized people to govern effectively.
Salmon argues that the development of social sciences in Europe involved both defining territory and studying previously excluded groups, geographic, cultural, or social, as part of a political effort to integrate them.
