The Americanization of Social Science : Intellectuals and Public Responsibility in the Postwar United States

A highly readable introduction to and overview of the postwar social sciences in the United States, The Americanization of Social Science explores a critical period in the evolution of American sociology's professional identity from the late 1940s through the early 1960s. David Paul Haney contends that during this time leading sociologists encouraged a professional secession from public engagement in the name of establishing the discipline's scientific integrity. According to Haney, influential practitioners encouraged a willful withdrawal from public sociology by separating their professional work from public life. He argues that this separation diminished sociologists' capacity for conveying their findings to wider publics, especially given their ambivalence towards the mass media, as witnessed by the professional estrangement that scholars like David Riesman and C. Wright Mills experienced as their writing found receptive lay audiences. He argues further that this sense of professional insularity has inhibited sociology's participation in the national discussion about social issues to the present day. The author outlines the development of sociology and examines why it failed to develop into a force in the intellectual currents of the United States. Arguing that sociologists attempted to develop both a science and an instrument for the spread of humanistic concern about society, the author shows how both attempts failed to connect sociology with larger questions of policy and social progress. It also discusses the major players in sociology, and how their fame obscured the debate over sociology's future in American universities. By looking at Talcott Parsons, C. Wright Mills, David Riesman, and others, the author illustrates how their struggle to define a discipline reflected the discipline's own development in this country, and how competing claims for sociology's role in the public debate about the future of American society helped define the future of the university and of the role of the public intellectual in the United States

in This, A Unique History Of The America's Postwar Intellectual, David Paul Haney Outlines The Developoment Of Sociology As A Discipline And Why, Given Its Focus Of Study, It Failed To Develop Into A Force In The Intellectual Currents Of The United States.

arguing That Sociologists Attempted To Develop Both A Science And An Instrument For The Spread Of Humanistic Concern About Socity, Haney Shows How Both Attempts Failed To Connect Sociology With Larger Questions Of Policy And Social Progress. 

In this, a unique history of the America's postwar intellectual, David Paul Haney outlines the development of sociology as a discipline and why, given its focus of study, it failed to develop into a force in the intellectual currents of the United States. Arguing that sociologists attempted to develop both a science and an instrument for the spread of humanistic concern about society, Haney shows how both attempts failed to connect sociology with larger questions of policy and social progress A highly readable introduction to and overview of postwar social science in the United States, "The Americanization of Social Science" explores a critical period in the evolution of American sociology's professional identity. David Paul Haney contends that from the late 1940s through the early 1960s leading sociologists encouraged a professional secession from public engagement in the name of establishing their discipline's scientific integrity A controversial explanation for sociology's isolation from American society