Kaare Svalastoga (1914-97) was born in Norway. After World War II he received a PhD in Sociology from the USA and in 1950 he became professor of Sociology at the University of Copenhagen. He founded the Department of Sociology, making it possible for the first time in Denmark for students to obtain degrees in sociology. His most important publications were devoted to social stratification. His scientific point of view was positivistic and he believed that sociology should resemble the natural sciences as closely as possible. This point of view led to strong conflicts between Svalastoga and those scholars who took the approach of Marxism, an approach that became very popular at the Department in the 1970s. Ultimately Svalastoga became isolated within the Department he had founded. Despite the turn of events he maintained strong ties with scholars in his field in countries around the world.
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