ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the broader study of the social sciences in France in the late nineteenth century and investigates the disputes concerning the legitimate definition of "social sciences" and "sociology", waged on the one hand by the Revue internationale de sociologie founded by Rene Worms and, on the other, by Durkheimian sociology. Journals in the Field of Social Studies was within this context of institutional transformation that new editorial collections, journals, and scientific societies proliferated, often stamping the name of a new discipline on the title, as well as diffusing distinct conceptions of the social sciences. The Durkheimians offered a sizeable contribution to the disputes with the Revue concerning the legitimate definition of social sciences, since they decided, strategically, not to collaborate with or take part in the Wormsian institutions. The critiques of the Revue's collaborators by the Durkheimians are contemporaneous with the debate between Tarde and Durkheim, and they lasted around a decade.
