Ralf Dahrendorf (Dahrendorf Ralf)

(p. 1929)
Born May 1, 1929 in Hamburg. He studied philosophy and classical philology at the University of Hamburg, the social sciences at the London School of Economics. In 1954 he defended his thesis unskilled jobs in British industry. The first book Darendorf - the publication of his theses on the social philosophy of dealing with criticism of Marx and Marxist theory of society. Among them - Marx in the future. The idea of justice in the thinking of Karl Marx (Marx in Perspective. Die Idee des Gerechten im Denken von Karl Marx, 1953) and social classes and class conflict in industrial society (Soziale Klassen und Klassenkonflikt in der industriellen Gesellschaft, 1957). Dahrendorf worked as a teacher and researcher in the departments of sociology in Hamburg (since 1958), . Tц?bingen (since 1960) and Constance (1966), . member of the American Center for Higher Studies in the behavioral sciences (1957-1958), . visiting professor at the Russell Sage Foundation (1986-1987),
. In 1970-1974 he - Commissioner of the European Economic Community, 1974-1984 Director of the London School of Economics, since 1988 the rector of St. Anthony's College, Oxford University.
Early publication Darendorf way or another connected with the theory of conflict. In contrast to the dominant concepts, he argued that the conflict and change are the lifeblood of society. The amended and supplemented by a book on social classes, . as well as in Essays on the Theory of Society (Essays in the Theory of Society, . 1968) Dahrendorf developed a detailed analysis of the methodological problems of conflict societies and the theory of conflict of group interests, . developing certain elements of the Marxist approach thus, . that they can be 'manipulated' (scientific) statements (in the sense of logic of research Karl Popper),
. Conflict theory Darendorf represented in the German edition of the book Modern Social Conflict (Der moderne soziale Konflikt, 1992).

His approach to the theory of conflict scientist has developed in two directions. Dahrendorf became known primarily as a theorist of liberalism, insists on the desirability of change and reform for the sake of improving the life prospects of citizens. Such of his work, . as the New Freedom (The New Liberty, . 1975), . Life perspectives (Life Chances, . 1979), . Law and Order (Law and Order, . 1985), . as well as numerous articles (some of which are included in the book, Fragments of the new liberalism (Fragmentes eines neuen Liberalismus, . 1987) develop the concept of liberalism, . connecting to the attention of civil rights with the needs of economic development and growth of a sense of social solidarity,
. Dahrendorf's ideas have found practical expression in the manifesto of the Free German Nuremberg Democrats (1969), . in the program documents of Liberal International (Future Challenges of Liberalism, . 1988), . as well as from the British Liberal Democrats, . an alliance with a so-called,
. 'new Labor' (The welfare and social cohesion in a free society, 1985). 'Mature version of' liberal philosophy Darendorf to this day does not exist, he hopes to present it in a book under the working title Testamentum Liberale.

Another direction of work Darendorf development of the theory of conflict is the analysis of societies, in particular the analysis of key historical events from the perspective of their impact on society. In his book Society and Democracy in Germany (Gesellschaft und Demokratie in Deutschland, 1966) analytical and empirical testing are subjected to liberal theory, focused on issues of conflict. The prospect of this critical test set global social changes that have occurred in the 20. Public version of his theory of society Dahrendorf, presented in a book about Britain (On Britain, 1982), which originated at the basis of his television series. In the events of 1989 in Eastern Europe Dahrendorf responded pamphlet in which he tried to clarify the causes, progress and prospects of the collapse of the communist system. This small publication - Reflections on the Revolution in Europe (Reflections on the Revolution in Europe, 1990) - became the most popular book Dahrendorf, judging by the number of translations into foreign languages. Some public lectures on the same subject, later entered the collection after 1989. Morality, revolution and civil society (After 1989. Morals, Revolution and Civil Society, 1997).

Articles Darendorf repeatedly appeared in periodicals of different countries. A number of papers a scientist combined journalism, political science and sociology, in pursuit of certain political goals. Recently Dahrendorf focused its efforts on studying the history of 20 centuries, in particular on the historical role of institutions in the development of which he was directly involved. The first result of reflection on this topic was a book LSE. History of the London School of Economics and Political Science: 1895-1995 (History of the London School of Economics and Political Science: 1895-1995, 1995).