Ce que prouver veut dire. Gottlieb Schnapper-Arndt et la critique de l’enquête sociale comme outil politique à la fin du XIXe siècle

The article introduces the translation of a key text in the debates over the methodology of social surveys in Germany at the end of the 19th
century. At a time when surveys were crystallising as a technique of knowledge and power, Gottlieb Schnapper-Arndt stood out for his in-depth critique of the ideological character of these surveys and for proposing his methodological program. His critique reacted to a large-scale, highly publicised national inquiry into rural usury, conducted in 1887. Using this as a starting point, he challenged the methodological assumptions of contemporary social inquiry, particularly their claim to prove social reality and their extensive use of carefully selected testimonials. At the same time, he highlighted underlying ideological biases, such as antisemitism. The translation allows us to rediscover the importance of Schnapper-Arndt’s critique, not only for the history of the social sciences but also for understanding the politics of proof of the period when social inquiry became a battleground for the definition of social reality and a potentially transformative instrument in the field of social policy.