Author Description

Mega-sociology is the last book written by Adam Podgórecki. He was working on its final version when he died on August 18, 1998, of heart attack. The revisions he intended to make did not concern the main ideas of this book, rather he planned a thorough re-working of its structure to make their presentation more focused and effective. After much deliberation, I have decided to have the manuscript published without any editing that might have inadvertently distorted the Author’s intentions. The concept of megasociology is about making sociology relevant by placing it in the social context of specific societies and their values, and thereby, enabling a culturally appropriate, organic social action. It grew out of Podgórecki’s concern with the ‘invasion of dilettantes’ in sociology, led by ideologues, who created abstract, detached from social reality pseudo-theories designed primarily for their own aggrandizement. It was also a next step in his almost life-long search for the best way to approach the task of helping societies to live better.