Talcott Parsons: An Intellectual Biography

by Uta Gerhardt

Overview

The American sociologist Talcott Parsons was often accused of being an overly abstract, even apolitical thinker, remote in Harvard's ivory tower. Uta Gerhardt dispels this image in her fascinating account of the political nature of Parsons's life and scholarship. Gerhardt depicts Parsons as a champion of American society and democracy. In this respect he followed the lead of his venerable mentor, Max Weber. Parsons's work, Gerhardt argues, was driven by an overriding agenda to develop a sociological understanding and defense of the development of modern democracy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521810227
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	10/10/2002
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.75(d)

Table of Contents

1. Understanding The Structure of Social Action; 2. Parson's sociology of national socialism, 1938–45; 3. The Harvard social science war effort and The Social System; 4. A new agenda for citizenship: Parsons's theory and American society in the 1960s; Epilogue: a life of scholarship for democracy.

Editorial 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

From the Publisher