ABSTRACT
In his 1919 lectures, Karl Mannheim approaches political issues through a distinction between the state as an instrument for advancing the interests of individuals and the state as "entrusted with a cultural mission". Mannheim's principal lecture courses in Frankfurt included important segments on the sociology of women. Like all his courses, these sought to combine a chapter in historical sociology with an introduction to a major theme in sociological analysis, oriented to current issues. The impetus to religion comes with the recognition that his sociological analysis is concerned only with the response mechanisms (Reaktionsapparatur) operative in the world. Mannheim's attitude to political and intellectual alternatives also frustrated radical thinkers eager to welcome him as ally against the sociological establishment. Mannheim restated his conception of education for politics at the end of his Frankfurt years, on an occasion laden with multiple pathos. The promise of Mannheim's sociological education looked different to women than it looked to men.
