Sociology Surviving within Non-Democratic Regimes: The Case of Spain
To celebrate the 5th ISA Forum of Sociology in Rabat (Morocco) is a great opportunity to debate the problems of Sociology (as a discipline and as a profession) surviving within non-democratic regimes. We use the case of two dictatorships in Spain: Primo de Rivera from 1923 to 1930; and Francisco Franco from 1939 to 1975. We present the process of development of Sociology and how it survived during those years. Also we want to compare with the development of sociology in northern Africa, and future possibilities. We specify the tendencies for the different schools and groups of sociologists in Spain: the Krausists, criminologists, Catholic reformers, the generation of 98, the School of Madrid, the exiled republicans, social Catholics, the main mentors during the dictatorship, and first modern sociologists. During Franco dictatorship we take into account the established professionals, but also the outsiders to the political regime. After the second dictatorship —with the political democratic transition— sociology grew in Spain with new focuses and debates. Also developing new specializations within sociology. The case of Spain may illustrate the problems for the development of sociology in autocracies, for which the ISA should be well aware. Also the comparisons of Spanish sociology and sociology in Morocco will be a great opportunity for a dialogue between academics and professionals in the two countries. The paper is part of a book on Sociology: Origins and Development in Spain that we just finished.