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10 - Pounding on Parsons: How Criticism Undermined the Reputation of Sociology’s Incurable Theorist

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 December 2020

By
A. Javier Treviño
Edited by
Peter Kivisto
Peter Kivisto
Affiliation:
Augustana College, Illinois
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Summary

This chapter offers a critique of those critics who leveled broadsides against Parsonian theory as text – intended to assess the analytical and semantic consistency of his writings as well as the style of their presentation – but also against Parsons as a person – his character and reputation. The goal is to dispel the negative mythology that has enveloped Parsonianism during the past few academic generations.

A. Javier Treviño is Professor of Sociology at Wheaton College, Massachusetts. He is the author of several books and editor of The Anthem Companion to Talcott Parsons, Talcott Parsons on Law and the Legal System, and Talcott Parsons Today: His Theory and Legacy in Contemporary Sociology.

Keywords

Apologiacriticism industryParsonianismreputationsociology of knowledgetypes of critique
Type
Chapter
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The Cambridge Handbook of Social Theory , pp. 179 - 204
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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