Talcott Parsons

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Talcott Parsons : biography

December 13, 1902 – May 8, 1979

Starting from the late 1950s and culminating during the student rebellion in the 1960s and its aftermath, Parsons’ theory was relentlessly attacked from scholars and intellectuals of the left. A massive campaign took form in which Parsons’ theory through various channels of criticism was cried out to be

  1. inherently conservative, if not reactionary and fascist. Gouldner went so far as claiming that Parsons had been an opponent of the New Deal. Parsons’ theory was further regarded as
  2. completely unable to reflect social change, human suffering, poverty, deprivation and conflict. Theda Skocpol was of the belief that Apartheid system in South Africa was the ultimate proof that Parsons’ theory was "wrong."Theda Skocpol, States and Social Revolution. London: Cambridge University Press, 1979. p.xii. At the same time,
  3. Parsons’ idea of the individual was seen as completely "oversocialized," "repressive," or subjugated in normative "conformity," if not downright fascist.
  4. In addition, Jürgen HabermasJürgen Habermas, "Talcott Parsons: Problems of Theory Construction." Sociological Inquiry. vol.51. no.3-4. 1981. and countless others were of the belief that Parsons’ system-theory and his action-theory was inherently opposed, indeed, hostile to each other and that Parsons’ system theory was especially "mechanical," "positivistic," "anti-individualistic," "anti-voluntaristic" "de-humanizing" by the sheer nature of its intrinsic theoretical context. By the same token,
  5. Parsons’ evolutionary theory was regarded as "uni-linear," "mechanical," "biologistic," and nothing but an ode to would-system status-qua or simply an ill-concealed instruction manual for "the capitalist nation-state."

The first manifestations of this branch of criticism would be intellectuals like Lewis Coser,Lewis Coser, The Function of Social Conflict. New York: The Free Press, 1956. Ralf Dahrendorf,Ralf Dahrendorf, "Out of Utopia." American Journal of Sociology vol.64. No.2. 1958. pp.115-124. See also Ralf Dahrendorf, Class and Class Conflict in Industrial Society. London: Routledge and Kegan, 1959. (German original, 1957). David Lockwood,David Lockwood,"Some Remarks on the Social System." British Journal of Sociology vol.7. no.2. 1958. pp. 115–124. See also David Lockwood, "Social Integration and System Integration." In G.K. Zollschan & W. Hirsh (ed.) Exploration in Social Change. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1964. John Rex,John Rex, Problems in Sociological Theory. London, 1961. C.W. Mills,C.W. Mills, The Sociological imagination. London: Oxford University Press, 1976. (originally 1959). Tom BottomoreTom Bottomore, "Out of this world." New York Review of Books November 6, 1969. pp. 34–39. and Alvin GouldnerAlvin Gouldner, The Coming Crisis of Western Sociology. London: Heineman, 1970. among other.

Early 1960s

Parsons voted for John F. Kennedy on November 8, 1960; since 1923 with one exception Parsons would vote for Democrats all his life.Jens Kaalhauge Nielsen, "The Political Orientation of Talcott Parsons: The Second World War and its Aftermath." In Roland Robertson & Bryan S. Turner (ed.) Talcott Parsons: Theorist of Modernity. London: Sage Publications, 1991. He discussed the Kennedy election widely in his correspondence at the time. Parsons was especially interested in the symbolic implications involved in the fact of Kennedy’s Catholic background for the implications for United States as an integral community. (It was the first time a Catholic became President of the United States). In a letter to Robert Bellah, he wrote: "I am sure you have been greatly intrigued by the involvement of the religious issue in our election."Letter from Talcott Parsons to Robert N. Bellah, November 25, 1960. Talcott Parsons Collection. Harvard University Archives. Parsons who described himself as a "Stevenson Democrat," was especially enthusiastic about that his favored politician Adlai Stevenson had been appointed United States Ambassador to the United Nations. Parsons had persistently voted for Stevenson in both of the years he had run for election and was greatly disappointed that Stevenson twice was rejected by the American voters.