The Routledge International Handbook of Talcott Parsons Studies

Talcott Parsons was the leading theorist in American sociology―and perhaps in world sociology―from the 1940s to the 1970s. He created the dominant school of thought that made "Parsonian" a standard description of a theoretical attempt to unify social science, as reflected in the fact that his contributions to the discipline cover a range of issues, including medicine, the family, religion, law, the economy, race relations, and politics―to name but a few. This volume brings together leading scholars working in the field of "Parsonian Studies" to explore the background of Parsons’s work, the content of his oeuvre, and his subsequent influence. Thematically organized, it covers Parsons’s contributions and impacts in areas including the philosophy and methodology of the social sciences; cultural sociology; personality, mental illness, and psychoanalysis; and economics and political and economic sociology. In addition, it considers his influence in different areas of the world and on particular students, and offers insights into the Parsonian tradition’s practical application to contemporary social issues. An authoritative, comprehensive, and in-depth critical assessment of the Parsonian legacy, The Routledge International Handbook of Talcott Parsons Studies will appeal to scholars across the social sciences and in sociology and social theory in particular, with interests in the history of sociology and the enduring relevance of Talcott Parsons. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Contents 6 List of contributors 9 1. Introduction: The scope and significance of Talcott Parsons studies 14 PART I: Methodology and philosophy of the social sciences 30 2. Backstage with the Parsons Circle: Charisma, dialogue, and dissent in the formation of a theory school 32 3. Interpreting and critiquing Talcott Parsons’s human condition paradigm 43 4. The theory of action and the analysis of culture 61 5. The “cognitive complex” and globalization: Conclusions for the future of higher education and research 82 6. Parsons/Habermas, scientific sociology/critical theory, and a natural law theory of morality 93 7. The analytical realism of Talcott Parsons: A sketch of the theorist as essay writer 107 PART II: Illness, personality, and psychoanalysis 122 8. Double deviance: The case of drug offenders 124 9. Toward a codification of Parsons’s theory of psychopathology 134 10. Durkheim and freud: Parsons and the dialogue between sociology and psychoanalysis 146 11. The sociological reception of psychoanalysis in Parsons’s “The superego and the theory of social systems” 158 PART III: Economics and politics 168 12. Parsons and sociological economics 170 13. Parsons, the symbolic media, and Weber’s view of power and stratification 181 14. Norms, interests, and desirable futures: Exploring contemporary political upheavals through the voluntaristic theory of action 196 15. Parsons on the international system and global society 209 16. The problem of “race” in Talcott Parsons’s account of the citizenship complex 219 17. Parsons and the “problem” of ethnicity and race in modern society 231 PART IV: Parsons and his students 248 18. A revolutionary science and its carriers: On Talcott Parsons, Robert N. Bellah, and teacher–pupil chains in scholarly fields 250 19. Talcott Parsons and Harold Garfinkel: The development of culture as interaction 262 20. Talcott Parsons and Clifford Geertz: Modernization, functionalism, and interpretive social science 274 21. Niklas Luhmann and Talcott Parsons 284 22. Talcott Parsons and Robert K. Merton: A bibliometric assessment of their intellectual impact 294 PART V: Parsons’s influence in various countries and world regions 306 23. Talcott Parsons and the tradition of Max Weber: Influence on German-speaking sociology 308 24. Evolutionary universals in Czechoslovak society: Talcott Parsons, the Prague Spring, and structures of interest 321 25. Talcott Parsons in Brazil 335 26. Talcott Parsons and Italian sociology: A complex and (perhaps) surprising story 342 Index 355 "Talcott Parsons was the leading theorist in American sociology-and perhaps in world sociology-from the 1940s to the 1970s. He created the dominant school of thought that made "Parsonian" a standard description of a theoretical attempt to unify social science, as reflected in the fact that his contributions to the discipline cover a range of issues, including medicine, the family, religion, law, the economy, race relations and politics-to name but a few. This volume brings together leading scholars working in the field of "Parsonian Studies" to explore the background of Parsons's work, the content of his oeuvre and his subsequent influence. Thematically organized, it covers Parsons's contributions and impact in areas including the philosophy and methodology of the social sciences; cultural sociology; personality, mental illness and psychoanalysis; and economics and political and economic sociology. In addition, it considers his influence in different areas of the world and on particular students, and offers insights into the Parsonian tradition's practical application to contemporary social issues. An authoritative, comprehensive and in-depth critical assessment of the Parsonian legacy, The Routledge International Handbook of Talcott Parsons Studies will appeal to scholars across the social sciences and in sociology and social theory in particular, with interests in the history of sociology and the enduring relevance of Talcott Parsons"-- Provided by publisher Thematically organised, this volume brings together leading scholars working in the field of ‘Parsonian Studies’ to explore the background of Talcott Parsons’s work, the content of his oeuvre and his subsequent influence in different regions of the world and on particular students.