The Emerald Guide to Talcott Parsons
豆瓣
简介
This book is an introductory guide to the work of Talcott Parsons, designed specifically for students and those new to his work. It offers a comprehensive guide to reading and understanding the development of Parsons' sociological ideas, placing them in the context of his life and his position in American sociology. Scott delves into crucial resources on Parsons, including a bibliography of key works and a guide to further reading. By equipping readers to understand Parsons, the author arms them to engage with Parsons' work for themselves and to come to their own, informed judgments about his contemporary relevance.
目录
List of Figures ix
1 Talcott Parsons and American Sociology 1
Sociology in America 3
Family Background and Early Life 5
Entering Sociology 8
Parsons in Wartime 12
Building Sociology 15
Developing Sociology 19
2 Parsons, Economics, and Sociology 23
Capitalism in Social Thought 24
Werner Sombart and Max Weber 26
3 The Sociology is About to Begin! 29
Realism and Social Theory 31
The Action Frame of Reference 34
Action Chains and Social Structure 37
Description, Analysis, and Theory 43
Sociology and the Social Sciences 46
4 Outlines of a Sociological Theory 49
Structural-Functional Theory 50
A View of the Social System 55
Occupations, Commerce, and Professions 63
Sex, Domesticity, and Family 65
Status, Prestige, and Stratification 66
5 A Theory of the Social System 71
Culture, Interaction, and Personality 73
A Functional Framework 76
Motivational Processes and Structures of Action 79
Social Action and Social Structure 83
Value Patterns and Structural Parts 85
Deviance and Social Control 92
An Illustration: The Doctor and the Patient 96
Classifying Societies 99
6 Refining the Functional Basis 103
Value Patterns and System Problems 105
A Multidimensional Space of Social Action 111
Socialisation as Internalisation 115
7 A Revised Theory of the Social System 121
Action Systems Revisited 122
The Social System Revisited 127
The Economy and the Polity 133
The Societal Community and the Fiduciary 141
Symbolic Media and System Interchanges 148
8 Evolution, Modernity, and American Society 157
From Tribalism to Feudalism 158
Modernity and the First New Nation 164
The American Value System and
American Society 167
9 Action, Society, and the Human Condition 175
Understanding Action 175
Understanding the Human Condition 179
10 Parsons: Looking Forward 183
Appendix 1: Conspectus of Parsons’s Principal Works 187
Appendix 2: Sources and Further Reading 195
Index 203