Russia and the United States / Edition 1

by Pitirim Sorokin

Overview

Throughout the Cold War, both the United States and the Soviet Union viewed themselves as saviors of the world, and each saw itself as working on behalf of humanity against the other. The unexpected implosion of the Soviet empire in 1989 brought an end to this bipolar world and left both nations uncertain about their relations to the world and to each other. Antagonism between the United States and Russia is rooted in a lack of knowledge of each other's culture and history. This pioneering volume, first published in 1944 at the height of the U.S.-Soviet alliance, steers us through the labyrinth of mutual ignorance that continues in the post-Cold War era.

Pitirim Alexandrovitch Sorokin is one of the major figures of modern sociology. Born in rural Russia in 1889, he took an active part in the country's political life. Following his emigration to the United States, he strove to develop an insider's knowledge of his new home. Russia and the United States was written in the hope of fostering cooperation between the two countries in the postwar world. By noting a shared belief in each nation's historical role or "exceptionalism," Sorokin argues that there is a fundamental compatibility in the basic values of the two countries, facilitated by shared mental, cultural, and social attitudes that preceded the communist period.

Without minimizing the tyrannical nature of the Soviet regime, Sorokin locates and traces the development of democratic tendencies in Russia. He also points out that American democracy has not been fully achieved and that both nations have yet to fulfill their ideals. Both countries have been melting pots of diverse racial, ethnic, national, and cultural groups and peoples, and from their multiethnic composition, Russia and the United States have each developed a rich and creative culture. Sorokin rejects the notion of diametrically opposed American and Russian "souls," in favor of an appreciation of shared values.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781412806183
Publisher:	Transaction Publishers
Publication date:	12/15/2006
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	280
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Pitirim Sorokin (1989-1968) was professor and founder of the department of sociology at Harvard University and director of the Harvard Research Center in Creative Altruism. Known for his contributions to social cycle theory, he is the author of many books, including Social and Cultural Dynamics, Russia and the United States and The Crisis of Our Age. Edward A. Tiryakian is professor emeritus of sociology at Duke University. He has served as director of international studies, as well as past president of the American Society for the Study of Religion and of the International Association of French-Speaking Sociologists. His most recent work is For Durkheim: Essays in Historical and Cultural Sociology.

Table of Contents

One: The Significant Lesson of Russian-American Relationships; Two: Facilitating Factors: Sociocultural Similarities; Three: American and Russian Souls; Four: Russian and American Social Institutions; Five: Russian Religious and Ecclesiastical Institutions; Six: The Moral Standards of the Two Nations; Seven: Creative Blossoming of the Two Nations; Eight: Mutual Influence of the Two Nations Upon Each Other’s Sociocultural Life; Nine: The Russia of the Post-Destructive Phase of the Revolution; Ten: The Cause and Factors of War and Peace; Eleven: The Conditions and Possibilities of a Lasting Peace in the Postwar Period