Talcott Parsons: Theorist of Modernity

Talcott Parsons was not only the most influential American sociologist of his time, but also one of the key social scientists of the twentieth century. Interestingly, he was also one of the most criticized and rejected figures in the social sciences. It was not until his death in 1979 that a worldwide renaissance of interest in Parsonian sociology emerged. In Talcott Parsons, renowned social theorists offer a complete reappraisal of his writing. Parsons′ own work is represented by a previously neglected essay on American values that is central to understanding his analysis of modernization. The contributors place Parsonian theories in the central realm of current debates over modernity, postmodernity, and globalization. They evaluate Parsons′ value commitments and his position in American social theory, the problems of interpreting his work today, his conception of world history, and the contemporary neofunctionalist movement. Talcott Parsons is essential reading for all teachers and students of sociology and social theory, and for anyone else interested in cultural theory and modernity.

Roland Robertson is Professor of Sociology at the University of Pittsburgh. His books include International Systems and the Modernization of Societies (with J P Nettl, 1968) The Sociological Interpretation of Religion (1970) Meaning and Change: Explorations in the Cultural Sociology of Modern Societies (1978), Religion and Global Order (co-edited with William R Garrett, 1991) and Talcott Parsons: Theorist of Modernity (co-edited with Bryan S Turner

Bryan S. Turner is Professor of Sociology in the Asian Research Institute (ARI) at the National University of Singapore. Previously he was Professor of Sociology in the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Cambridge from 1998-2005. His research interests include globalization and religion, concentrating on such issues as religious conflict and the modern state, religious authority and electronic information, religious, consumerism and youth cultures, human rights and religion, the human body, medical change, and religious cosmologies. He is Joint Chief Editor of the journal Citizenship Studies and serves on the editorial boards of several prestigious journals.