Sorokin and Parsons at Harvard: Institutional conflict and the origin of a hegemonic tradition

The early history of Harvard sociology is closely entwined with the careers and personalities of Pitirim Sorokin and Talcott Parsons. The processes and conditions that led to Parsons's rise and Sorokin's decline are essential to understanding the development of Harvard sociology. Edward Tiryakian's work on theory schools and hegemonic traditions in the social sciences is a useful framework for analyzing and discussing these developments. Following Tiryakian, one can simultaneously trace the operating factors in Sorokin's failure to achieve lasting power and the development of a Parsonian sociology which would vie for hegemony in the discipline. Personality, milieu, forms of theorizing, and sociology's movement toward maturation are keys to the major changes in Harvard sociology during the 1940s. Analysis of this case deepens understanding of the conditions that contribute to the emergence of important intellectual traditions.