Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

No one above suspicion: Talcott parsons under surveillance

  • Published:
The American Sociologist Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This article presents details, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, of an extensive investigation carried out by the Federal Bureau of Investigation into the background and activities of Talcott Parsons. In 1952, following allegations that Parsons was the leader of a Communist Party cell at Harvard University, J. Edgar Hoover authorized a security-type investigation of Parsons; it continued for two years and was conducted throughout the United States and in at least seven European nations. Parsons was eventually cleared of all accusations, but FBI scrutiny of his activities continued on an intermittent basis for at least another thirteen years. Possible influences on Parsons’ scholarship and implications for the sociology of knowledge are also discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Diamond, Sigmund. 1992.Compromised Campus: The Collaboration of Universities with the Intelligence Community, 1945–1955. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Federal Bureau of Investigation. “Talcott Parsons.” File Headquarters 100-390459. Washington, D.C.: FBI Freedom of Information-Privacy Acts Section.

  • Federal Bureau of Investigation. “Talcott Parsons.” File Headquarters 138-2572. Washington, D.C.: FBI Freedom of Information-Privacy Acts Section.

  • Gerhardt, Uta (ed.). 1993.Talcott Parsons on National Socialism. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gould, Mark. 1981. “Parsons versus Marx: ‘An earnest warning …’”Sociological Inquiry 51(3–4):197–218.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • —————. 1991. “The Structure of Social Action: At Least Sixty Years Ahead of Its Time.” Pp. 85–107 inTalcott Parsons: Theorist of Modernity, edited by R. Robertson and B. Turner. London: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton, Peter. 1983.Talcott Parsons. New York: Tavistock and Ellis Horwood Limited.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnston, Barry. 1986. “Sorokin and Parsons at Harvard: Institutional Conflict and the Rise of the Hegemonic Tradition.”Journal of the History of Behavioral Sciences 22:107–127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keen, Mike Forrest. 1992. “The FBI and American Sociology.”Footnotes 20(May):14.

    Google Scholar 

  • —————. 1993. “The Freedom of Information Act and Sociological Research.” The American Sociologist 23(2):43–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuhn, Thomas S. 1970.The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, 2nd edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martel, Martin. 1979. “Talcott Parsons.” Pp. 609–630 inInternational Encyclopedia of Social Sciences, vol. 18, edited by David L. Sills, New York: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Merton, Robert King. 1949,Social Theory and Social Structure: Toward the Codification of Theory and Research. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen, Jens Kaalhauge. 1991. “The Political Orientation of Talcott Parsons: The Second World War and Its Aftermath.” Pp. 215–233 inTalcott Parsons: Theorist of Modernity, edited by R. Robertson and B. Turner. London: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parsons, Talcott. 1954. “‘McCarthyism’ and American Social Tension: A Sociologist’s View.”The Yale Review 44:226–245.

    Google Scholar 

  • —————. 1977. “On Building Social System Theory: A Personal History.” Pp. 22–76 inSocial Systems and the Evolution of Action Theory. New York: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pitts, Jesse R. 1980. “Talcott Parsons: The Sociologist as the Last Puritan.”The American Sociologist 15:62–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schrecker, Ellen W. 1986.No Ivory Tower: McCarthyism and the Universities. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stouffer, Samuel Andrew. 1955.Communism, Conformity, Civil Liberties: A Cross-section of the Nation Speaks its Mind. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner, Bryan S. and Roland Robertson. 1991.Talcott Parsons: Theorist of Modernity. London: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wiener, Jon. 1989. “Bringing Nazis to the U.S.: Talcott Parsons’ Role.”The Nation 248:289, 306–309.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, Robin Jr. 1980. “Talcott Parsons: The Stereotypes and the Realities.”The American Sociologist 15:64–66.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. the Department of Sociology, Indiana University South Bend, 1700 Mishawaka Avenue, P. O. Box 7111, 46634, South Bend, Indiana

    Mike F. Keen (assistant professor)

Authors
  1. Mike F. Keen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Keen, M.F. No one above suspicion: Talcott parsons under surveillance. Am Soc 24, 37–54 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02691918

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02691918

Keywords

Search

Navigation