Social Theorists
Talcott Parsons
Sociology
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Talcott Parsons was an American sociologist at Harvard University and the dominant figure in American sociological theory through the middle decades of the twentieth century. In The Structure of Social Action (1937) he synthesized the work of Weber, Durkheim, Pareto, and Marshall into a general voluntaristic theory of action, and he went on to develop structural functionalism, a systematic account of how social institutions work together to maintain social order, formalized in his AGIL scheme describing the functional requirements every social system must meet. His comprehensive, highly abstract theoretical system shaped the discipline for decades and became the primary target of the conflict and interactionist theories that reacted against it.
Facts
BirthplaceColorado Springs, Colorado 1 Nationality / Culture Defining ContributionDeveloped social action theory and structural functionalism, producing the first broad, systematic, and generalizable theory of social systems in the United States and Europe. 1 Notable WorkThe Structure of Social Action (1937) 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
Co-authored Economy and Society (1956) with Talcott Parsons.
Institutions Informed
Smelser was Parsons student and collaborator at Harvard, co-authoring Economy and Society with him.
Merton was Parsons student at Harvard, though Merton later argued for middle-range theory in place of Parsons grand functionalist system.
Sources
1. Talcott Parsons (Wikipedia)
WikipediaOpening sentence (birth date)Quote, Opening sentence (birth date)
Talcott Parsons (December 13, 1902 – May 8, 1979) was an American sociologist of the classical tradition, best known for his social action theory and structural functionalism.
1. Talcott Parsons (Wikipedia)
WikipediaOpening sentence (birth year)Quote, Opening sentence (birth year)
Talcott Parsons (December 13, 1902 – May 8, 1979) was an American sociologist of the classical tradition, best known for his social action theory and structural functionalism.
1. Talcott Parsons (Wikipedia)
WikipediaOpening sentence (death date)Quote, Opening sentence (death date)
Talcott Parsons (December 13, 1902 – May 8, 1979) was an American sociologist of the classical tradition, best known for his social action theory and structural functionalism.
1. Talcott Parsons (Wikipedia)
WikipediaOpening sentence (death year)Quote, Opening sentence (death year)
Talcott Parsons (December 13, 1902 – May 8, 1979) was an American sociologist of the classical tradition, best known for his social action theory and structural functionalism.
1. Talcott Parsons (Wikipedia)
WikipediaBiography section, birth sentenceQuote, Biography section, birth sentence
Colorado Springs, Colorado, to Edward Smith Parsons and Mary Augusta Ingersoll.
1. Talcott Parsons (Wikipedia)
WikipediaLater life section, death sentenceQuote, Later life section, death sentence
Parsons died May 8, 1979, in Munich on a trip to Germany, where he was celebrating the 50th anniversary of his degree at Heidelberg.
1. Talcott Parsons (Wikipedia)
WikipediaOpening sentence (nationality)Quote, Opening sentence (nationality)
Talcott Parsons (December 13, 1902 – May 8, 1979) was an American sociologist of the classical tradition, best known for his social action theory and structural functionalism.
1. Talcott Parsons (Wikipedia)
WikipediaMajor works sectionQuote, Major works section
The Structure of Social Action (1937).
1. Talcott Parsons (Wikipedia)
WikipediaLead paragraph, second paragraphQuote, Lead paragraph, second paragraph
Based on empirical data, Parsons' social action theory was the first broad, systematic, and generalizable theory of social systems developed in the United States and Europe.
Wikipedia: Neil Smelser
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