TARDE,GABRIEL AS A FOUNDING-FATHER OF INNOVATION DIFFUSION RESEARCH

Gabriel Tarde (1843-1904) has given significant contributions to crimi nology, to social interaction theory and to diffusion. research. Diffu sion refers to spreading of social or cultural properties from one soc iety or environment to another. Tarde created his own system of sociol ogy, based on psychology and de signed to explain the whole of social behaviour from development of cultures to acts of an individual. In hi s view social change requires penetration of inventions that diffuse t hrough the process of imitation. People imitate beliefs and desires or motives transmitted from one individual to another. Analysis should t ake place on a micro-level with the method he called 'interpsychology' . Tarde refuted the idea of a social whole being more than its parts. He thought at least to some extent like a reductionist. Moreover, imit ation as a social phenomenon was in Tarde's view not isolated from oth er activities in nature but a part of a universal law of repetition. H is professional experiences in court apparently directed his interest towards criminology, affected his thinking about motives and about the level of analysis. Tarde's ontological ideas were soon disregarded la rgely due to the criticism presented by Emile Durkheim (1858-1916). Ho wever, Tarde made quite a few insightful and practical observations th at have benefited diffusion research. Likewise, aspects similar to Tar de's thoughts concerning cultural evolution seem to interest modern sc ientists.