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  1. Home
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  3. Talcott Parsons
  • Cited by 72
  • Uta Gerhardt, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Germany
Publisher:
Cambridge University Press
Online publication date:
October 2009
Print publication year:
2002
Online ISBN:
9780511527586
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511527586
Subjects:
Social Theory, Sociology: General Interest, Sociology
Information

Book description

The American sociologist Talcott Parsons was often accused of being an overly abstract, even apolitical thinker, remote in Harvard's ivory tower. The controversial Parsons, in fact, emulated his mentor, the venerable Max Weber, in at least two respects: as a scholar he practised Wertfreiheit (scientific professionalism) and as a political activist he worked for the preservation and expansion of democracy. In this text, Uta Gerhardt traces this double commitment and links Parsons's scholarship to his politics. Utilizing rich archival material, she examines four periods in Parsons's intellectual life in the context of American history and society. From the New Deal and the rise of German fascism to the Second World War, through the McCarthy era and the Civil Rights movement, Parsons's overriding agenda was to develop both a sociological understanding and a defense of the development of modern democracy.

Reviews

"Never before has such an illuminating analysis of Parsons been presented. Highly recommended." Choice

"Gerhardt's study provides the most illuminating portrait we have of the distinctive sociological and political project that animated Parson's work." The Journal of American History

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