3: The Sociology is About to Begin!

It was with the phrase ‘The sociology is about to begin!’ that Parsons’s young daughter Anne announced to family and visitors the view that her father himself, no doubt, took about his work in The Structure of Social Action. The book, published in 1937, was supposed to kick-start sociological endeavour and move it forward in a new direction on the basis of the groundwork laid by European social theorists. Parsons believed that by ignoring his American predecessors – over-impressed by Spencer – and following his route map, American sociologists could best advance social thought. This was the clear implication of his opening statement in the book: ‘Who now reads Spencer?’ From now on, sociology was to be cast as a science and take its deserved place among the other disciplines.