Charles Horton Cooley: an Unknown Classic?

This text is a preamble to the first translation of the article 'Social Consciousness', written by Charles H. Cooley and published in 1907 in the American Journal of Sociology. It first presents the interest of a current translation of this sociologist - a classic, even a founding father of American sociology, yet almost unknown in the Francophone world. It then addresses the specific issues raised by the translation of Cooley's writings. Lastly, it proposes an introduction to his thoughts at the time of the translated text, primarily based on his book Human nature and the social order, published in 1902.