He formed a small group of students including Paul de Rousiers that met in Le Play's salon every Monday in the 1870s.

[1] The Programme de gouvernement et d'organisation sociale d'après l'observation comparée des divers peuples par un groupe d'économistes (1881) was a collective work by members of the group with a preface by Le Play.

[2] In 1885, three years after the death of Le Play, Henri de Tourville and Demolins split from the movement and founded a new journal, Science sociale.

They brought with them a few adherents including de Rousiers and Robert Pinot (1862–1926), future director of the Musée social and secretary-general of the Comité des forges.

In his work Les grandes routes des peuples, essai de géographie sociale : comment la route crée le type social, he defends racist theories.