Otto von Gierke and His Early Corporatism
Otto von Gierke and His Early Corporatism

Summary/Abstract: This article presents the corporatism described in the works of Otto von Gierke. This German scholar, active at the turn of nineteenth and twentieth centuries, created an elaborate concept of social reconstruction based on historical, social and legal studies. In his works, central government and associations are in constant conflict. Both are dominant in certain eras, creating a cycle crucial to development of state and society. Gierke concluded that the next century would be an age of associations. Corporations, the sovereign and self-governed unions, would be fundamental to creation of a new federal state. His concept bore many similarities to the idea of civil society and, in fact, influenced many social activists and early pluralists all over Europe. The article presents Gierke’s ideas in the context of his life and intellectual formation. Moreover, it provides some information on reception of his ideas.

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