Sociology's Lost Human Relations Area Files

Abstract

This article examines sociology's first human relations area files. These files were developed by Herbert Spencer, an unfairly maligned figure in the history of sociology. The point of this historical exercise, however, is not so much to praise Spencer as to conduct a hypothetical exercise: What if Spencer's files had been taken more seriously? In performing this exercise, we can learn a great deal about both sociology and anthropology. Indeed, we can see that sociology and anthropology would be far more interesting disciplines if they followed Spencer's lead in collecting and cataloguing cross-cultural and historical data in ways that would facilitate theorizing.