Abstract
The centennial of an author's death invites to reflect on the meaning and consequences of his/her legacy. In this text, we seek to present some elements of Émile Durkheim's (1858-1917) biography, which help to situate this author in his original context, and especially some of the main aspects that characterize his reception in the social sciences over the last hundred years. We argue that there are at least three kinds of appropriations: Durkheim of the sociological common sense, Durkheim of the Durkheimians, and Durkheim interlocutor of social theories. At the same time, we point out how the six articles that constitute this dossier illustrate such diversity of possible readings, and demonstrate the liveliness of Durkheim's presence in the contemporary social sciences. We hope this to be an invitation to a critical and complex understanding of the history of our own discipline.
Keywords:
Social sciences; Sociological theory; Durkheimian studies.