Social Theorists
Peter L. Berger
Sociology
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Peter L. Berger was an Austrian-born American sociologist best known for The Social Construction of Reality (1966), co-written with Thomas Luckmann, which argued that what people experience as objective, taken-for-granted social reality is in fact produced and sustained through ongoing human activity and given the appearance of an external, self-evident order through habitualization and institutionalization. Berger was also a leading figure in the sociology of religion, where his book The Sacred Canopy (1967) examined how religious systems function to construct and legitimate a meaningful social order against the threat of chaos. He later revised his earlier secularization thesis, arguing that the modern world remained furiously religious rather than steadily secularizing.
Facts
Death PlaceBrookline, Massachusetts 1 Nationality / Culture Defining ContributionKnown for work in the sociology of knowledge, sociology of religion and the study of modernization; co-authored The Social Construction of Reality, a foundational text of social constructionism. 1 Notable WorkThe Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
Peter L. Berger co-authored The Social Construction of Reality (1966) with Thomas Luckmann, the founding statement of social constructionism.
Informed By
Berger and Luckmann The Social Construction of Reality built its phenomenological method directly on Schutz earlier work.
Sources
1. Peter L. Berger (Wikipedia)
WikipediaLead paragraph, opening sentence (birth date)Quote, Lead paragraph, opening sentence (birth date)
Peter Ludwig Berger (17 March 1929 – 27 June 2017) was an Austrian-born American sociologist and Protestant theologian.
1. Peter L. Berger (Wikipedia)
WikipediaLead paragraph, opening sentence (birth year)Quote, Lead paragraph, opening sentence (birth year)
Peter Ludwig Berger (17 March 1929 – 27 June 2017) was an Austrian-born American sociologist and Protestant theologian.
1. Peter L. Berger (Wikipedia)
WikipediaLead paragraph, opening sentence (death date)Quote, Lead paragraph, opening sentence (death date)
Peter Ludwig Berger (17 March 1929 – 27 June 2017) was an Austrian-born American sociologist and Protestant theologian.
1. Peter L. Berger (Wikipedia)
WikipediaLead paragraph, opening sentence (death year)Quote, Lead paragraph, opening sentence (death year)
Peter Ludwig Berger (17 March 1929 – 27 June 2017) was an Austrian-born American sociologist and Protestant theologian.
1. Peter L. Berger (Wikipedia)
WikipediaLead paragraph, opening sentence (nationality)Quote, Lead paragraph, opening sentence (nationality)
Peter Ludwig Berger (17 March 1929 – 27 June 2017) was an Austrian-born American sociologist and Protestant theologian.
1. Peter L. Berger (Wikipedia)
WikipediaLead paragraph, second sentence (defining contribution)Quote, Lead paragraph, second sentence (defining contribution)
Berger is arguably best known for his book, co-authored with Thomas Luckmann, The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge (New York, 1966), which is considered one of the most influential texts in the sociology of knowledge and played a central role in the development of social constructionism.
1. Peter L. Berger (Wikipedia)
WikipediaLead paragraph, second sentence (notable work title)Quote, Lead paragraph, second sentence (notable work title)
Berger is arguably best known for his book, co-authored with Thomas Luckmann, The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge (New York, 1966), which is considered one of the most influential texts in the sociology of knowledge and played a central role in the development of social constructionism.
1. Peter L. Berger (Wikipedia)
WikipediaFamily life section, opening sentence (birthplace)Quote, Family life section, opening sentence (birthplace)
Peter Ludwig Berger was born on March 17, 1929, in Vienna, Austria, to George William and Jelka (Loew) Berger, who were Jewish converts to Christianity.
1. Peter L. Berger (Wikipedia)
WikipediaFamily life section (death sentence)Quote, Family life section (death sentence)
He died on June 27, 2017, in his Brookline, Massachusetts, home after a prolonged illness.
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