On the Practice of Sociology
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On the Practice of Sociology
Sorokin (1889-1968) rose from a peasant childhood in Russia to become one of the most erudite, insightful, and critical figures in the history of sociology. He was, however, considered both a pioneer and an outcast.
His early American works opened new vistas in rural sociology, social stratification, and theory. They provided an elegant standard for scientific sociology and won him the founding chairmanship of sociology at Harvard University. A continuous innovator, he next explored the vast expanse of human affairs, and outlined the surfacing crisis of modernity. At the Harvard Research Center for Creative Altruism he developed a blueprint for social reconstruction. Such interests combined with a prophetic and combative style of disagreement drove him to the margins of a discipline hungry for acceptance as a science. In the early1960s, his work was once again recognized, and he became president of the American Sociological Association.
Including essays that range from his early Russian years to his final works in the 60s, this collection provides a much-needed introduction to one of sociology’s most controversial thinkers.
His early American works opened new vistas in rural sociology, social stratification, and theory. They provided an elegant standard for scientific sociology and won him the founding chairmanship of sociology at Harvard University. A continuous innovator, he next explored the vast expanse of human affairs, and outlined the surfacing crisis of modernity. At the Harvard Research Center for Creative Altruism he developed a blueprint for social reconstruction. Such interests combined with a prophetic and combative style of disagreement drove him to the margins of a discipline hungry for acceptance as a science. In the early1960s, his work was once again recognized, and he became president of the American Sociological Association.
Including essays that range from his early Russian years to his final works in the 60s, this collection provides a much-needed introduction to one of sociology’s most controversial thinkers.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1: The Boundaries and Subject Matter of Sociology
2: Some Contrasts between European and American Sociology
3: Sociology as a Science
4: Conclusion: Retrospect and Prospect
5: Declaration of Independence of the Social Sciences
6: Referential Principles of Integralist Sociology
7: Sociology of Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
8: L. N. Tolstoy as a Philosopher
9: Notes from a Sociologist: At the Crossroads
10: Notes from a Sociologist: Delay
11: An Experimental Study of Efficiency of Work under Various Specified Conditions (with Mamie Tanquist, Mildred Parten, and Mrs. C. C. Zimmerman)
12: Social Mobility
13: The Future of the Rural and Urban Worlds
14: Social Time: A Methodological and Functional Analysis
15: Social Space, Social Distance, and Social Position
16: Ideational, Sensate, Idealistic, and Mixed Systems of Culture
17: Principle of Immanent Change of Sociocultural Systems and Congeries
18: The Perversion of Human Behavior in Revolution
19: The Cause and Factors of War and Peace
20: The Conditions and Prospects for a World without War
21: Sociology and Ethics
22: Amitology as an Applied Science of Amity and Unselfish Love
23: Studies of the Harvard Research Center in Creative Altruism
Selected Publications by and about Pitirim A. Sorokin
Index
Introduction
1: The Boundaries and Subject Matter of Sociology
2: Some Contrasts between European and American Sociology
3: Sociology as a Science
4: Conclusion: Retrospect and Prospect
5: Declaration of Independence of the Social Sciences
6: Referential Principles of Integralist Sociology
7: Sociology of Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
8: L. N. Tolstoy as a Philosopher
9: Notes from a Sociologist: At the Crossroads
10: Notes from a Sociologist: Delay
11: An Experimental Study of Efficiency of Work under Various Specified Conditions (with Mamie Tanquist, Mildred Parten, and Mrs. C. C. Zimmerman)
12: Social Mobility
13: The Future of the Rural and Urban Worlds
14: Social Time: A Methodological and Functional Analysis
15: Social Space, Social Distance, and Social Position
16: Ideational, Sensate, Idealistic, and Mixed Systems of Culture
17: Principle of Immanent Change of Sociocultural Systems and Congeries
18: The Perversion of Human Behavior in Revolution
19: The Cause and Factors of War and Peace
20: The Conditions and Prospects for a World without War
21: Sociology and Ethics
22: Amitology as an Applied Science of Amity and Unselfish Love
23: Studies of the Harvard Research Center in Creative Altruism
Selected Publications by and about Pitirim A. Sorokin
Index