ISBN: Ostalo
Godina izdanja: 1978
Jezik: Engleski
Autor: Strani

Alfred Mcclung Lee - Sociology for Whom?
Oxford University Press, 1978
236 str.
meki povez
stanje: vrlo dobro

Sociology, a relatively young discipline, has generated a great deal of soul-searching by its practitioners. Lee, Professor Emeritus at Brooklyn College, provides a sociological approach to sociology. Whereas others--C. Wright Mills in The Sociological Imagination, for example--question the subject-matter and methods of the field, Lee accepts the motion of a social science, and directs his questions toward the institutional context of sociology. On that basis, his call for a "humanist" sociology is not a methodological call-to-arms, but a plea for sociologists to place their skills at the service of people rather than power-wielding institutions. His instrumentalist approach, not surprisingly, leads him to a skeptical view of sociological theory, favoring, instead, practical "clinical and field" experience which will bring sociologists closer to their subjects. Lee`s sociology could be called "populist"; he uncovers the false images of success which overlay establishment affiliations while defending those who take up popular causes from spurious charges of non-scientific behavior. He rules out of court, however, the larger question of the relationship between the discipline and its current role--can sociology, as it is now, serve any master, or is it particularly suited to being a handmaiden to institutionalized power? Based upon previously published articles, this volume will serve as a good introduction to Lee`s brand of humanist sociology, but by setting his sights so narrowly, he has deprived himself of a larger audience.

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Alfred McClung Lee

August 23, 1906 - May 19, 1992

The Brooklyn College Archives and Special Collections provides the following biographical sketch of Alfred McClung Lee:

Alfred McClung Lee was born in Oakmont, Pennsylvania in 1906. He married Elizabeth Riley Briant, a sociologist and writer, in 1927. After attaining a B.A. at the University of Pittsburgh and a Ph.D. at Yale University, Alfred McClung Lee began a long career of university teaching and scholarship.

Lee was a professor at the University of Kansas from 1934-1938, then became a lecturer and professor at New York University from 1938-42. This relationship would continue until 1955, with Lee serving as a visiting professor. The next university at which he taught was Wayne University (1942-1949), where Lee was the Chairman of the Sociology and Anthropology departments (1942-1947). Lee then left Wayne University to become a professor at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York from 1941-1971. He was Chairman of the Sociology and Anthropology department at Brooklyn College from 1951-1957, and in 1971 the college honored this distinguished professor by making him Professor Emeritus. He was also a Visiting Scholar at Drew University until his passing.

Alfred McClung Lee was also a very active member and leader in a large number of sociological, journalistic, and humanitarian organizations both public and private. In his early career, his activities included being a public affairs specialist for the Twentieth Century Fund (1938-1940), executive director of the Sumner Club at Yale University (1939-1943), executive director for the Institute for Propaganda Analysis (1940-1942), research consultant for the FCC (1941) and the Department of Justice (1943-1944), member of the board of directors of the ACLU in New York (1949-1956), president and co-founder of Society for the Study of Social Problems (1953-1954), and the chair of the committee of social science consultants for the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund (1954-1957).


Nonfiction, Sociology