scispace - formally typeset
Search or ask a question

Showing papers in "American Journal of Sociology in 1980"



Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, data from a longitudinal sample of Cuban emigres are used to test competing hypotheses about the mode of incorporation of new immigrants into the U.S. labor market.
Abstract: Data from a longitudinal sample of Cuban emigres are used to test competing hypotheses about the mode of incorporation of new immigrants into the U.S. labor market. Classic theories of assimilation...

1,247 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, Weber's usage of "rationality" and "rationalization" in "Economy and Society" and the "Collected Essays in the Sociology of Religion" are identified and compared with one another.
Abstract: Rationality has been recognized as perhaps the major theme in Max Weber's oeuvre. The commentators who have addressed this theme have generally constricted its polymorphous character. This article inventories Weber's usage of "rationality" and "rationalization" in "Economy and Society" and the "Collected Essays in the Sociology of Religion." Four types of rationality are identified and compared with one another: practical, theoretical, substantive, and formal. Only "ethical substantive rationality" introduces methodical ways of life. All four types become manifest in a multiplicity of rationalization processes orchestrated at all levels of societal and civilization process. Long-term rationalization processes are seen to be rooted in values rather than in interests. The dominance of practical, theoretical, and formal rationalization processes in modern Western societies implies immense consequences for the type of person likely to live in these societies.

683 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, positive and negative selective incentives are shown analytically to have different structural implications when used to induce collective action, and the most important implication is the difference between rewards and punishments when they are used as selective incentives.
Abstract: Positive and negative selective incentives are shown analytically to have different structural implications when used to induce collective action. Positive selective incentives are effective for motivating small numbers of cooperators and generate pressures toward smaller, more "elite" actions, unless the incentives have jointness of supply. Nega­ tive selective incentives are effective for motivating unanimous co­ operation, but their use is often uneven and cyclical and may gener­ ate hostilities which disrupt the cooperation they enforce. Examples of these dynamics are found in many arenas of collective action and social movements. One important feature of collective action is the use of selective incen­ tives to reward those who cooperate in the action or punish those who do not. An arts fund may reward contributors by giving a lavish party or by printing their names in a program. Workers ensure cooperation with a strike by threatening to ostracize or beat up strikebreakers. In the 1960s, famous folksingers rewarded antiwar demonstrators by singing at protest rallies. In the 1970s, Louisville antibusing protesters threatened violence against other whites to induce them to keep their children out of school. This paper considers relations among potential cooperators, not their re­ lations with any "enemy." It discusses the processes that arise when actors reward and punish each other to motivate or sustain cooperation in some form of collective action. The first half of the paper provides a formal analysis which reviews the work of Mancur Olson and his critics, formal­ izes the decision to participate in collective action, and then formalizes and examines the decision to use a resource as a selective incentive to in­ duce others to act collectively. The second half of the paper draws out the implications of this analysis. The most important implication is the difference between rewards and punishments when they are used as selective incentives. This implication 1 I would like to thank James Wiggins, Elizabeth Martin, Patricia Rieker, Jean War­ ren, Ross Purdy, William Gamson, and Anthony Oberschall for helpful comments on earlier versions of this paper, and especially to acknowledge the extensive, detailed, and illuminating critical commentary of John Lemke, Bertrand Shelton, and three anony­ mous reviewers as this paper moved toward its final form.

479 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The total effects of schooling on the occupational statuses of women and men are the same at mid-life, and among the minority of women who remain childless, the process of occupational attainment is more similar to that among men.
Abstract: Based on data from an 18-year follow-up of Wisconsin high school seniors, this paper describes the process of occupational achievement among men and women from labor market entry to mid-life. In contrast to several earlier studies, there are marked sex differences in the acquisition and maintenance of occupational status. The effect of post high school education on the status of first jobs is twice as great among men as among women, and the effect of the status of first jobs on that of current jobs is one-third greater among men than among women. Men gain an average of nine points on the Duncan scale betweentheir first civilian jobs and their jobs at age 36, but women lose an average of more than two points on the Duncan scale. At the same time, sex differences in occupational attainment are not all disadvantageous to women. First jobs of women are six points higher in status on the average than first jobs of men, and when the status of first jobs is controlled, the continuing influence of schooling on oc...

360 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors identify a set of empirical indicators which relate to the degree of oligopoly versus competition in industrial settings and use factor analysis to test the dual economists' expectation of a common dimension underlying indicators of economic concentration and scale.
Abstract: We note the need for a measure of economic segmentation based on current empirical data for a range of theoretically relevant indicators. Drawing on a dual economy interpretation of the relationship between economic organization and labor market structure, we identify a set of empirical indicators which relate to the degree of oligopoly versus competition in industrial settings. We use factor analysis to test the dual economists' expectation of a common dimension underlying indicators of economic concentration and scale and the characteristics of product and labor markets. After confirming this expectation, we use factor scores to define an index of segmentation for industrial categories. Finally, we demonstrate the application of dichotomous and continuous segmentation measures to the analysis of a simple earnings determination model.

357 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present quantitative data pertaining to three quite different radical religious groups and find that the crucial role played by social networks in the formation and growth of such groups is discussed.
Abstract: A long tradition in social science explains recruitment to religious cults and sects on the basis of a congruence between the ideology of a group and the deprivations of those who join. A more recent approach to recruitment argues that interpersonal bonds between members and potential recruits are the essential element. In this paper we first show that these are complementary, not competing, approaches. Then, because the available evidential base for the role of interpersonal bonds is limited and qualitative, we present quantitative data pertaining to three quite different radical religious groups. In each case there is overwhelming support for the crucial role played by social networks in the formation and growth of such groups. Next we seek the boundaries of this phenomenon.Available studies suggest that not merely cult and sect recruitment, but commitment to conventional faiths as well, is supported by social networks.However, networks do not seem to play an important role in acceptance of mildly devia...

353 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors presented several macrodynamic social indicator models of post-World War II trends in robbery, burglary, and automobile theft rates for the United States and derived a main theorem which states that, other things being equal, a decrease in the density of the population in physical locations that are normally sites of primary groups should lead to an increase in criminal opportunities and hence in property crime rates.
Abstract: This paper presents several macrodynamic social indicator models of post-World War II trends in robbery, burglary, and automobile theft rates for the United States. A theory of the ways in wich changes in criminal opportunity affect these Index Crime property crime rates is deveoped. Definitions and postulates are presented from which we derive a main theorem which states that, other things being equal, a decrease in the density of the population in physical locations that are normally sites of primary groups should lead to an increase in criminal opportunities and hence in property crime rates. Corollaries to the main theorem are presented and tested after operationalization of relevant independent and control variables such as the residential population density ratio, the unemployment rate, age structure, total consumer expenditures, and automobiles per capita. Stochastic difference equations, used to evaluate the theory,indicate that the models implied by the theory exhibit good statistical fit to the ...

330 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper showed that the presence of a "provision point" in the payoff structure does not substantially affect the results of the free-rider hypothesis and showed that experienced subjects do not behave very differently from inexperienced ones in this situation.
Abstract: Our recent experimental research called into question the predictive utility of the free-rider hypothesis regarding the provision of public goods by groups. However, several critical questions regarding the generality of the findings may be raised. This paper reports three systematic replications of the previous research which deal with the most pressing of these questions. Study I shows that the presence of a "provision point" in the payoff structure does not substantially affect the results. Study II indicates that a fivefold increase in the amount of money at stake in the relevant decision does affect behavior but not sufficiently to salvage a strong version of the free-rider hypothesis. Study III shows that experienced subjects do not behave very differently from inexperienced ones in this situation.

272 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors define and illustrate a concept of structural autonomy based on recent developments in network analysis, which is stated in terms of the pattern of relations defining a network position, and incorporates aspects of oligopoly from economics and group-affiliation from sociology.
Abstract: My purpose here is to define and illustrate a concept of "structural autonomy" based on recent developments in network analysis. The concept is stated in terms of the pattern of relations defining a network position, and it incorporates aspects of oligopoly from economics and group-affiliation from sociology. Eight hypotheses are derived from the proposed concept. These hypotheses concern the effects on autonomy of aspects of the pattern of relations defining a network position, the places in social structure where cooptive relations should appear (as well as places where they should not), and the increase in autonomy that can be expected from effective cooptation. Numerical illustration is provided. As a useful research site, firms in manufacturing industries of the 1967 American economy are treated as structurally equivalent actors, and total profits in an industry are taken to be a result of the relative autonomy of firms in separate industries. The autonomy hypotheses are used to explain relative indu...

209 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, two types of explanation for the generally high level of job satisfaction reported by workers holding manual or routine jobs are distinguished on the basis of the degree to which they emphasize the values and needs of such workers as opposed to relying upon the worker's accommodation to limited job opportunities.
Abstract: Two types of explanation for the generally high level of job satisfaction reported by workers holding manual or routine jobs are distinguished on the basis of the degree to which they emphasize the values and needs of such workers as opposed to relying upon the worker's accommodation to limited job opportunities. The former, "dispositional," approach involves theoretical assumptions compatible with a Durkheimian social theory; the "situational" approach is characteristic of a more Marxian set of theoretical assumptions. Data from a national sample of workers are analyzed to show that perceived intrinsic and extrinsic sources of satisfaction have powerful effects on overall job satisfaction irrespective of educational background and that intrinsic satisfaction is a powerful determinant of overall satisfaction among members of occupational groups, while extrinsic sources of satisfaction vary in importance among different groups. Entrinsic satisfaction is shown to be much more important as a determinant of o...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the impact of cultural orientations on the patterns of change of some of the major types of "traditional" social and political systems is analyzed, and a theoretical framework and analytical tools for the analysis of the relations between "ideas" or "culture" and social structure are proposed.
Abstract: This paper analyzes the impact of cultural orientations on the patterns of change of some of the major types of "traditional" social and political systems. Offering a theoretical framework and analytical tools for the analysis of the relations between "ideas" or "culture" and social structure, the study is intended also to contribute to analysis of the relations between the dynamics of historical civilizations (defined usually in cultural or symbolic terms) and the dynamics of social and political systems. Last, it is intended to contribute to a reappraisal and reorientation of comparative studies in general and comparative-institutional ones in particular. The first of three sections distinguishes among three ideal-typic patterns of change in traditional civilizations: coalescent, partially coalescent, and noncoalescent. These are differentiated both according to the degree of change in major institutions, in the structure of power, and in the economic sphere, and according to the extent to which the act...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors show that Gamson's results are based on a series of very weak assumptions and on frequently spurious zero-order correlations, and that the timing of protest group success is substantially independent of the organization and tactics of the protest group.
Abstract: In The Strategy of Social Protest William Gamson asserted that the organization and tactics of a social protest group strongly influence the group's chances for successes. This assertion was based on an analysis of the rates of success of 53 social protest groups arising in America between 1800 and 1945. This article shows frist that Gamson's results are based on a series of very weak assumptions and on frequently spurious zero-order correlations. When data on the rates of protest group success are reanalyzed, no effect of organizational or tactical parameters is evident. Additional data on the timing of social protest group success are then introduced, and a stochastic model is presented which closely fits the data (r > .95). With the help of this model, the timing of success is also shown to be substantially independent of the organization and tactics of the protest group. Finally, a new interpretation of the probability of protest group success, based on the incidence of broad national crises, is sugge...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors examined the psychological well-being of black, whites, Mexicans, and Mexican Americans and found that Mexican heritage is associated with lower distress, while the impact of social stressors is not as great among persons of Mexican heritage as among others.
Abstract: We examine the psychological well-being of blacks, whites, Mexicans, and Mexican Americans. There are two perspectives on the differences in distress among these groups: the minority-status perspective and the ethnic-culture perspective. Within the context of the minority status perspective, two hypotheses are tested: (1) Minority status per se is distressing. (2) Minority status is distressing only because it is associated with low social class. Within the ethnic-culture perspective, a number of additional hypotheses are tested: (3) Mexican heritage is associated with lower distress (4) because the impact of social stressors is not as great among persons of Mexican heritage as among others. However, (5) Mexicans living in the United States but not raised here suffer distress due to cultural alienation. Within the minority-status perspective, hypothesis 1 is rejected. Hypothesis 2 is supported with the qualification that, although both the black and Mexican minorities are distressed by low income, only bl...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The relatively low fertility expectations among those prevented from working by the unavailability of child care suggests that not just current employment, but also the intention of desire to work, is related to fertility behavior.
Abstract: This study examines the extent to which the unavailability of satisfactory child care is a constrait on employment for mothers with children under five years of age. It also explores some of the social and demographic correlates of constrait and the role child care plays in the relationship between labor-force participation and fertility. The analysis is based on data from the June 1977 Current Population Survey for the United States. A substantial minority of mothers with young children, both nonemployed and employed, feel that if child care were available at reasonable cost, they would seek employment or work more hours. Child-care constrait seems to be most prevalent among mothers who are young, black, single, with low education and with little income. The relatively low fertility expectations among those prevented from working by the unavailability of child care suggests that not just current employment, but also the intention of desire to work, is related to fertility behavior. The differential in bi...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated women's labor force participation as a characteristic of the social structure and found that participation is positively related to economic development and divorce rate and negatively related to fertility and income inequality.
Abstract: Utilizing data from 61 societies, this inquiry focuses on women's labor force participation as a characteristic of the social structure. First, the analysis demonstrates that participation is positively related to economic development and divorce rate and negatively related to fertility and income inequality. While the effect of economic development is mediated by various aspects of familial composition, the most significant effect on female labor force participation is that of income inequality. In societies where inequality is high, women are less likely to join the labor force. The analysis goes on to demonstrate that female labor force participation has consequences for occupational discrimination. The odds that women can achieve high status and well-paid occupations decrease with the proportion of women in the labor force. The findings reported here suggest strongly that the integration of females into the labor force is determined by the shape of the stratification system. Such integration, however,...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: From the early decades of the 14th century until 1650, continental Europeans executed between 200,000 and 500,000 witches, 85% or more of whom were women as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: From the early decades of the 14th century until 1650, continental Europeans executed between 200,000 and 500,000 witches, 85% or more of whom were women. The character and timing of these executions and the persecutions which preceded them were determined in part by changed objectives of the Inquisition, as well as by a differentiation process within medieval society. The which craze answered the need for a redefinition of moral boundaries, as a result of the profound changes in the medieval social order. The fact that these executions and the accompanying demonological theories enjoyed widespread and popular acceptance can be explained through the anomie which permeated society at that time. While these conditions provided the intellectual, cognitive background for the witch-hunts,economic and demographic changes, together with the emotional need for a target, explain why the witch-hunts were directed at women.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of measures of class and occupation on both economic and noneconomic rewards were analyzed using data obtained from two national samples of individuals, and it was shown that class-and occupation are conceptually distinct positions and have independent effects on both types of job rewards.
Abstract: This paper argues that within an economic system class and occupation are conceptually distinct positions. Class refers to control by some positions over others in a production system, and occupation refers to the functional differentiation of positions in a technical division of labor. The effects of measures of class and occupation on both economic and noneconomic rewards are analyzed using data obtained from two national samples of individuals. Class and occupation are found to have independent effects on both types of job rewards, and the commonly used measures of occupational position (Duncan's socioeconomic index [SEI], complexity/skill requirements of the occupation) do not adequately explain inequalities in job rewards associated with occupation. The implications of this analysis for the study of positional inequality in general are indicated.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a model of justice norms as congnitions and test the degree of cognitive consensus on the norm of just deserts (i.e., "letting the punishment fit the crime").
Abstract: Social consensus on norms of justice has long been of concern to sociologist. The present paper presents a model of justice norms as congnitions and tests the degree of cognitive consensus on the norm of just deserts (i.e., "letting the punishment fit the crime"). It is argued that consensus on justice norms should be tested using a combination of within-respondent and between-respondent techniques. Such tests can (1) simultaneously reveal the presence of consensus on the justice principle involved and on the evaluation of the specific social stimuli presented, (2) facilitate demographic comparisons on adhering to principle or agreeing on facts, and (3) reveal conflicts between these two versions of consensus. For testing the norm of just deserts, ratio scale measures of crime seriousness and punishment severity were employed, and a formula derived from both equity theory and psycho-physics was utilized in model fitting. Results from a sample survey indicated dramatically strong use of the principle of just deserts by members of the public but less adherence to just deserts by demographically disadvantaged (low-income or black) respondents. A path model of the relation between aggregate and individual scores further demonstrated a fundamental tension between the two versions of normative consensus, in that the more respondents used the principle the more systematically they deviated from the group average response. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of both the substantive findings and the new methodologies employed for understanding normative consensus and the assessment of justice norms.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Findings imply that the husband's earnings and the presence of children may deter divorce less now than they have in the past.
Abstract: Using a national probability sample (N = 1,360) of husbands and wives married to one another in 1978, we explore the correlates of thinking about divorce in order to extend Becker's theory of marital instability by adding sociological variables and measuring individual utilities. Wive's thoughts of divorce increase with their work experience, having a youngest child aged 6-11, and egalitarian housework attitudes and decrease with age at marriage,marital duration, and husband's housework contribution.Husbands' thoughts of divorce increase with wife's work experience and wife's egalitarian housework attitudes and decrease with the presence of children under 6,marital duration, and age differences. To the extent that thought of divorce relates to eventual divorce, these findings imply that the husband's earnings and the presence of children may deter divorce less now than they have in the past.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper found that women who consider their families complete tend to be more responsive to family financial circumstances and the characteristics of the labor market in which they live than do childless women or mothers who expect more children.
Abstract: The concept of the "family life cycle" provides a valuable context within which to study labor force participation of married womem. This article tests the hypothesis that the process by which wives make the decision to supply labor to the market varies with position in that life cycle. Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of the Education and Labor Market Experiences of Young Women are used in an examination of market activity during the early stages of the cycle, from marriage through the completion of childbearing. The effects of the most important determinants of married women's labor force involvement are found to depend on life-cycle stage. Wives who consider their families complete tend to be more responsive to family financial circumstances and the characteristics of the labor market in which they live than do childless women or mothers who expect more children. History of employment is found to be most important in predicting current market activity for mothers who expect more children and ...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The majority of people asked their position on a highly obscure bill before Congress gave a "don't Know" response in two different national surveys, but between 25% and 30% offered an opinion.
Abstract: The majority of people asked their position on a highly obscure bill before Congress gave a "don't Know" (DK) response in two different national surveys, but between 25% and 30% offered an opinion. The latter figures dropped to 10% or less when the DK alternative was provided as part of the question. Contrary to findings concerning most issues, more educated persons showed greater willingness to admit ignorance in these cases involving an unknown object. For those persons who did express opinions, more than mere guessing seemed to be involved: respondents appeared to interpret the wording of the question in a way that had meaning for them, and then to express a more general attitude toward that constructed object.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, an endogenous model of the uneven pattern of 16th-century state formation is presented, which holds that the geographical distribution of the first modern state structures was largely determined by preexisting regional differences of social and economic organization, differences emanating from the 12th century if not earlier.
Abstract: The rise of the modern territorial state in early modern western Europe was a spatially skewed process. An endogenous model of the uneven pattern of 16th-century state formation is presented. It holds that the geographical distribution of the first modern state structures was largely determined by preexisting regional differences of social and economic organization, differences emanating from the 12th century if not earlier. The model specifies that three distinct regional modes of production existed in 12th-century western Europe. These postulated forms of social organization are designated as the sedentary pastoral, petty commodity, and feudal modes of production. The optimal preconditions for the initial formation of modern states were to be found only in those regions dominated by the feudal mode of production. The paper concludes with a discussion of some methodological and theoretical implications of these findings.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: On the average, homicides decrease by 35.7% immediately following a publicized execution as discussed by the authors, and the more publicity devoted to the execution, the more homicides decrease thereafter, indicating a short-term deterrent effect on homicides.
Abstract: On the average, homicides decrease by 35.7% immediately following a publicized execution. The more publicity devoted to the execution, the the more homicides decrease thereafter. This decrease apparently occurs because capital punishment has a short-term deterrent effect on homicides. This deterrent effect has not been demonstrated previously. A long-term deterrent effect is not evidence from the findings.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors applied Poisson and negative binomial models to the number of multiple victimizations reported in the National Crime Surveys (NCS) and found that the negative model was more accurate than the Poisson model.
Abstract: Poisson and negative binomial models are applied to the number of multiple victimizations reported in the National Crime Surveys. The negative binomial but not the Poisson models is shown to be com...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors review the problem of heteroscedastic first-difference models and suggest a remedy, and draw on two recent empirical studies of the economic growth of nations to illustrate the substantive importance of the issues involved.
Abstract: A common approach to the explanation of growth rates in crossnational research employs a first-difference (or panel) model. However, when the basic variables employed in such a model are badly skewed, the estimated disturbances are likely to be heteroscedastic. When this happens, the parameter estimates become inefficient, and conventional tests of their statistical significance are biased. This research note briefly reviews the problem, suggests a remedy, and draws on two recent empirical studies of the economic growth of nations to illustrate the substantive importance of the issues involved.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The first experiment reported here shows that mutual gaze does indeed cause more physiological arousal than control conditions of nonmutual gaze and demonstrates that an actor can communicate with another person by gazing in such a manner that he can manipulate that person's physiology.
Abstract: Eye contact between two people often serves as a channel of nonverbal communication. It may signal aggresive or dominating intent, as in a staredown, or it may convey an impression of close bonding, intimacy, or a request for aid, depending on how actors define the situation. Some theories of nonverbal communication assume that mutual gaze is physiologically arousing and that this arousal accounts in part for the efficacy of eye contact as a communication channel. The first experiment reported here shows that mutual gaze does indeed cause more physiological arousal than control conditions of nonmutual gaze. The second experiment demonstrates that an actor can communicate with another person by gazing in such a manner that he can manipulate that person's physiology. A third experiment demonstrates that a subject's response to a mutual gaze is a good predictor of his or her degree of influence (dominance) in subsequent social interaction. These results emphasize the rapid emergence of status differentiation...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A simple formal model of the selection of schizophrenics into social classes is developed, based on stochastic models of the process of occupational mobility, and concludes that selection and drift together form a sufficient explanation for the class differential in rate of schizophrenia.
Abstract: A simple formal model of the selection of schizophrenics into social classes is developed, based on stochastic models of the process of occupational mobility. The model is estimated with data from England. Two predictions of the model are tested with data: the magnitude of the class differential in rate of schizophrenia at equilibrium, and the pattern of rates for classes in advantaged and disadvantaged ethnic groups. The model approximates the data in both tests. The major conclusion is that selection and drift together form a sufficient explanation for the class differential in rate of schizophrenia.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The comments printed in this section are limited to brief critiques of articles and reviews published in the AJS as discussed by the authors, and comments on articles are not to exceed 1,500 words, those on reviews 750 words.
Abstract: The comments printed in this section are limited to brief critiques of articles and reviews published in the AJS. These comments are expected to address specific errors or flaws. Comments on articles are not to exceed 1,500 words, those on reviews 750 words. Authors of articles and reviews are invited to reply to comments, subject to the same length limits. The AJS does not publish commenters' rebuttals to authors' replies. Longer or less narrowly focused comments on articles published in the AJS should be submitted themselves as articles.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Parson's and Schutz's use of Weberian sociology to derive general theories of social action has been examined in this article, showing that the success of general theory over historicism is a hollow one.
Abstract: Sociologists have generally dissociated theoretical synthesis from historical research, but the triumph of general theory over historicism is a hollow one. Efforts to formulate general theories of society devoid of historical limitation have created serious problems for theoretical work. This article examines two important examples of this tendency: Parson's and Schutz's use of Weberian sociology to derive general theories of social action. A historically grounded procedure for generating concepts was central to Weber's work. It united explanatory and interpretative analysis within a reflexive framework that responded to the intellectual and political interests of the theorist. Early writings of Parsons and Schutz surmount, in different ways, Weber's strictures on the limits of general theory by eliminating the historical component of Weber's thought. This development reversed Weber's theoretical achievement, decomposing his synthesis into hostile theories based on key fragments of his analysis.