A família na obra de Frédéric Le Play

Abstract

Among nineteenth-century authors, sociologist Frédéric Le Play (1806-1882) stands out for the research methodology he developed to study European workers. In the perspective of the history of sociology, and in a dialogue with some of his twentieth-century readers, I analyze Le Play's concept of family and its intimate connection with his findings. The so-called family monograph method, as the name indicates, intended to learn the living conditions of workers in different European countries by monitoring the life of some of their families. I intend to show how the construction of concepts, methods and survey and data-analyses techniques enabled the systematic reproduction of his observations, both by Le Play himself and his uncountable followers. In his methodology, the family is the core concern, and will enable future generations of both social scientists and historians to revisit them in their studies.