No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the author.
Talking Sociology: A Sixties Fragment
... In those turbulent and tumultuous times, many graduate students, some almost firmly embedded in the 'professionalizing' sociology assembly-line, rebelled (Sica and Turner, 2005). Before long, several organizations and movements-the Association for Humanist Sociology; The Sociology Liberation Movement (Flacks, 1988;Lee, 1988;Lee and Lee, 1972;Levine, 2004;Murray, 1988;Nicolaus, 1968;Stark, 1988) emerged. The journals associated with these organizations-Social Problems, The Insurgent Sociologist, re-named later as Critical Sociology-provided the much-needed oxygen as well as intellectual space for alternatives to the technocratic lack of vision pushed by the 'professionalizers'. ...
... Second, an examination of Gouldner's early life and career af fords a case study in tlie rise of industrial sociology as a special subfield witliin sociology beginning in tlie 1920s, as well as tlie creation and growtli of tlie Columbia University de partment of sociology, concentrating especially on tlie 1930s tlirougli tlie 1950s. Tliird, Gould ner was a truly interesting character whose belligerent and impetuous interpersonal style made news virtually everywliere lie went (see, e.g., Alt, 1981;Colvard, 1990;Coser, 1982;Etz kowitz, 1991;Hamblin, 1989;Nord, 1992;Stark, 1991). That is to say, beyond tlie importance of Gouldner's ideas, tlie story of Gouldner's life as a man, as a sociologist, as an intellectual, and as an outlaw Marxist, is also interesting and worth telling. 1 ...
Alvin W. Gouldner (1920--1980) was a prolific sociologist of the post-World War II era who spent the early part of his career (the 1950s) in the field of industrial sociology. A case study of Gouldner's early life and career is useful insofar as it intertwines with the development of industrial sociology as a distinct subfield within sociology. Through this analysis we are also better able to understand how and in what ways a burgeoning organizational studies program developed at Columbia University during the 1940s. This analysis of the historical and cultural contexts within which Gouldner came to prominence as an industrial sociologist at Columbia, and the intellectual program that resulted, can also help shed light on more recent trends in organizational studies.
... What happens to radicals? Most studies of radicalism deal with 'radical social movements', but instead of theoretically conceptualizing the notion of radical, the majority merely describe different social-change-oriented movements that occurred during the 1960s (Stark, 1988;Burns, 1990;Fink et al., 1996). Another stream of writing on radicalism derives from personal accounts of engagements during the 1960s, which implicitly equate radicalism with political activism (Brown, 1988;Frye, 1988;Goertzel, 1988). ...
This article is about the rise and fall of radicalism among 'new urban sociologists' during the 1960s and 1970s. First, I analyze the social and theoretical developments of that time and demonstrate the novelty of the questions that the new urban sociologists posed. Second, I examine the features of the practical engagements and motivations of the members of this group and show how they changed over time. Finally, I discuss the processes of institutionalization of this group. The story of the new urban sociologists is the story of members of the same generation who, dissatisfied with the development of theory in their field, developed a distinct approach to urban problems. The project that they developed combined elements of both intellectual and political projects. I consider both aspects of this project in light of Gouldner's sociology of intellectuals, and show that de-radicalization was a consequence of a peculiar combination of political disillusionment, theoretical triumph and a successful project of professionalization. Copyright Joint Editors and Blackwell Publishers Ltd 2001.
ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any references for this publication.