PhD, Doctoral School of Letters (SDL), University of Bucharest, e-mail address: adrianpadure@yahoo.com.

ABSTRACT

USTIʼS SCHOOL OF SOCIOLOGY AND PROBLEMS-CENTERED MONOGRAPHS

The material presented here is part of a broader doctoral research project. This article reexamines the origin of problems-centered monographic research method within the Gusti School, challenging a long-standing historiographical misattribution. Building on Pompiliu Caraioan’s 1971 study, the introduction of this method was, and still is, attributed to Anton Golopenția. Drawing on archival correspondence between Golopenția and Cornel Grofșorean, the article establishes that the method of centering monographic research on specific social problems emerged independently within the Social Institute of Banat-Crișana. Chronological and textual evidence shows that Grofșorean had already implemented this approach in campaigns such as Belinț (1934), prior to any contact with Golopenția. Problem-centered monograph was primarily shaped by Grofșorean’s pragmatic and intervention-oriented vision, representing not a deviation caused by limitations, but a deliberate epistemological innovation aimed at addressing urgent social realities. By establishing the correct intellectual authorship, this study renders any future reference to Caraioan’s account obsolete and restores Cornel Grofșorean’s rightful place as the true architect of one of the most important research innovations of interwar Romanian sociology. The narrative blends personal reflection, biography and epistemological critique, highlighting the interplay of totalitarianism, academic politics and methodological evolution in interwar Romanian sociology.

Keywords: Gusti School, Anton Golopenția, Cornel Grofșorean, problemscentered monographs, deconstruction.

DOI: 10.59277/RJSoc.2026.1-2.03

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