ABSTRACT
Karl Mannheim’s intellectual development appears as a process involving the transition from relativist socio-cultural theory to instrumental planning theory, the subsequent reinterpretation of the functions of institutions and values, and the final attempt at a redefinition of military-political reality. Sociology arose as an attempt to transcend the alternatives presented to modern men by stability in conservative corruption and instability in radical disruption. The sociological formula which Comte had suggested with his correlation of order and progress fell apart in the political conflicts of the early twentieth century. The theoretical fascination with the superstructure, with ideas and morality, distinguishing the sociological tradition stemming from Comte and Durkheim found its empirical correlate in the political behavior of the majorities in industrial societies. The mystique of progress increasingly attracted the radical minority of Independent Socialists who shared Marx’s fascination for the socio-economic substructure, taking his revolutionary call for sweeping structural change seriously.
