Talcott Edger Parsons is a American sociologist born the December 13rd 1902 with Colorado Springs, deceased with Munich the May 8th 1979.

It worked out a theory which it calls systemic functionalism action, which borrows elements from various authors (Sigmund Freud, Emile Durkheim, max Weber, Vilfredo Pareto…) and which made it possible to develop various “operational” approaches more of socialization.

It left the university of Amherst with dominant in biology, leisure and tourism, and in philosophy. After Amherst, it entered to the economic school of London where it was exposed to work of Harold Laski, R.H Tawney, Bronislaw Malinowski and Leonard Trelawny Hobhouse. It goes then to the university of Heidelberg where it receives its diploma in sociology and economy.

He was elected president of the American Association of sociology in 1949 and was used as secretary of 1960 to 1965.

Also known for its theory of the action. An action division in 4 essential components, “the action supposes an actor, a situation partially controlled by him, a combination of end and means subjected to the choice of the actor by normative criteria…” but also for a theory of socialization, the system elaborate AGIL in collaboration with Bales in 1955. “It is the process of socialization, through which any individual becomes carrying his social system… ”. This theory rests on 4 functions:

• Adaptation
• Goal-Attainment
• Integration
• Latency

Principal works

• The Structure off Social Action (1937)

• (article) Parsons, Talcott. 1942. " Old and Social Sex in the Structure off the United States." American Sociological Review 7 (5): 604-616. E
• Social The System (1951)
• Economy and Society - with NR. Smelser (1956)
• Structure and Process in Modern Societies (1960)
• Societies: Comparative Evolutionary and Prospects (1966)
• Sociological Theory and Modern Society (1968)
• Social Politics and Structure (1969)
• The American University - with G. Platt (1973)
• Social Systems and the Evolution off Action Theory (1977)
• Action Theory and the Human Condition (1978)

On work of Parsons

• Jeffrey C. Alexander (1983). " The Modern Rebuilding off Classical Thought: Talcott Parsons. (Theoretical Logic in Sociology Furnace Volume) "

• Louis Althusser & Etienne Balibar (1970). " Reading 'Capital'"
• Qualities G. Brandenburg (1971). " Systemzwang und Autonomie". ISBN 3-531-092-286
• ATU Gerhardt (2002). " Talcott Parsons"
• Jürgen Habermas (1981). " Theory of the kommunikativen Handelns. Band 2: Zur Kritik DER funktionalistischen Vernunft"
• Niklas Luhmann (1984). " Soziale Systeme"
• Messelken, Karlheinz: Politikbegriffe DER modernen Soziologie. Eine Kritik der Systemtheorie und Konflikttheorie . (Essay). Westdeutscher Verlag, Köln und Opladen 1968.
• Richard Münch (Soziologe) (1982). " Theory of Handelns"
• Harald Wenzel (1990). " Die Ordnung of Handelns"
• Alvine W. Gouldner (1974). " Die westliche Soziologie in der Krise data base 1"