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.
A. Javier Treviño is Professor of Sociology at Wheaton College, U.S.A. He is the author of The Social Thought of C. Wright Mills; C. Wright Mills and the Cuban Revolution: An Exercise in the Art of Sociological Imagination; and The Emerald Guide to C. Wright Mills. He is the editor of Talcott Parsons on Law and the Legal System; Talcott Parsons Today: His Theory and Legacy in Contemporary Sociology; and The Anthem Companion to Talcott Parsons.
Helmut Staubmann is Professor of Social Theory and Cultural Sociology at the University of Innsbruck, Austria. He is the editor of The Rolling Stones: Sociological Perspectives and Action Theory: Methodological Studies, and the co-editor of Rationality in the Social Sciences: The Schumpeter-Parsons Seminar 1939–40 and Current Perspectives (with Victor Lidz) and Georg Simmel: Rembrandt: An Essay in the Philosophy of Art (with Alan Scott).