For Work / Against Work
Debates on the centrality of work

Toward a General Theory of Action

by Parsons, Talcott; Shils, Edward (1962)

Key Passage

“Any system of interactive relationships of a plurality of individual actors is a social system. A society is the type of social system which contains within itself all the essential prerequisites for its maintenance as a self-subsistent system. Among the more essential of these prerequisites are (1) organization around the foci of territorial location and kinship, (2) a system for determining functions and allocating facilities and rewards, and (3) integrative structures controlling these allocations and regulating conflicts and competitive processes”. (p.26)

Keywords

Social Science, Action Theory, Social Relations, Social Integration, Conflict, Sociology, Kinship, Individuality, Competition

Themes

Parsons

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