Pitirim Sorokin was a Russian-American sociologist who fled Soviet Russia after being sentenced to death for his political activity and went on to found and chair the sociology department at Harvard University. In Social Mobility (1927) he provided one of the first systematic sociological treatments of movement between social strata, and in his major four-volume work Social and Cultural Dynamics (1937 to 1941) he proposed a cyclical theory of civilizational change, arguing that cultures oscillate over long historical periods between an ideational phase oriented toward spiritual and otherworldly truth, a sensate phase oriented toward material and sensory reality, and an integrated idealistic phase that combines elements of both. In his later career Sorokin turned to the study of altruism and love as a force in social life, founding Harvard's Research Center in Creative Altruism.
Facts
BirthplaceTurya, Yarensky Uyezd, Vologda Governorate, Russian Empire 1 Death PlaceWinchester, Massachusetts, U.S. 1 Nationality / Culture Defining ContributionFounded and chaired the Department of Sociology at Harvard University in 1930 1 Notable WorkSocial and Cultural Dynamics (4 vol., 1937-41) 1 Connections
Associated With
Sorokin Social Mobility theorized the channels and mechanisms through which individuals and groups move between layers of social class stratification.
Institutions Informed
Davis trained in Harvard sociology department in its early years under its founding chair, Sorokin, whose comparative approach shaped Davis own functionalist orientation.
Sources
1. Pitirim Sorokin (Wikipedia)
Wikipediainfobox, Born field (Gregorian date, O.S. 23 January 1889 noted alongside)
4 February [O.S. 23 January] 1889, Turya, Yarensky Uyezd, Vologda Governorate, Russian Empire
infobox, Born field
4 February [O.S. 23 January] 1889, Turya, Yarensky Uyezd, Vologda Governorate, Russian Empire
infobox, Died field
10 February 1968 (aged 79), Winchester, Massachusetts, U.S.
lead sentence
Pitirim Alexandrovich Sorokin (4 February [O.S. 23 January] 1889 - 10 February 1968) was a Russian American sociologist and political activist, who contributed to the social cycle theory.
article body, Social and Cultural Dynamics sentence
His controversial theories of social process and the historical typology of cultures are expounded in Social and Cultural Dynamics (4 vol., 1937-41; rev. and abridged ed. 1957) and many other works.
article body, Harvard department sentence
In 1930, he was hired as head of the newly formed department of sociology at Harvard University.
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