Reading Talcott Parsons

Addressing the neglect of the work of Talcott Parsons, the complexity of whose thought and the opacity of whose writing style can prove daunting, this book provides a comprehensible account of the major theoretical accomplishments in his work and the reasons for which his legacy remains important to contemporary sociological debates.

Autorentext

Helmut Staubmann is Professor Emeritus of Social Theory and Cultural Sociology at the University of Innsbruck, Austria. His research focuses on aesthetics and foundational issues of sociological theory. He is the author of Sociology in a New Key. Essays in Social Theory and Aesthetics (2022) and editor (with A. Javier Treviño) of The Routledge International Handbook of Talcott Parsons Studies (2022). Together with Victor M. Lidz, he edits the book series Studies in the Theory of Action.

(www.helmut-staubmann.info)

Inhalt

Chapter 1. "How Great a Stir he Made in the World...": The Stages in Talcott Parsons' Life and Career

Chapter 2. Post-Classical Sociology: Parsons' Synthesis

Chapter 3. Why Systems of Action?

Chapter 4. Functional Analysis: A Methodology for Living Systems

Chapter 5. The Many Forms of (Dis)Obedience: Money, Power and the Theory of Symbolic Media

Chapter 6. Society and Societal Change

Chapter 7. Are We SOcial Constructions? The Link between Character and Society

Chapter 8. The Reason of Culture