The Active Society RevisitedWilson C. McWilliams Rowman & Littlefield, 2006 - 352 pages The Active Society, published in 1968, is the most ambitious book in Amitai Etzioni's remarkable career. It is sociology in the grand tradition, with at least one foot outside its own time. In it, Etzioni confronts the great modern irony-- that setting out to become the masters of nature, humans become mastered by their own instruments-- championing the sense of agency and aiming to demonstrate that humanity can direct its own creations, or at least, that societies can aspire to a greater measure of authentic self-government. In this new collection of essays, Wilson Carey McWilliams brings together scholars in a range of disciplines to analyze the significance and shortcomings of this important work. They comment on the importance of Etzioni's contributions, the magnitude of his achievement, and the extent to which The Active Society speaks to contemporary social and political life. |
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Page 59
... decision - making , and in issuing controlling signals for societal units . " There is also an " underlayer " implementing the decisions made by elites.24 The feedback loop - in which information is collected , decisions are made ...
... decision - making , and in issuing controlling signals for societal units . " There is also an " underlayer " implementing the decisions made by elites.24 The feedback loop - in which information is collected , decisions are made ...
Page 102
... decision makers are purely ratio- nal , making decisions that maximize benefits while minimizing costs . The ability to make perfectly rational decisions involves , among other things , a clear set of preferences or goals , complete ...
... decision makers are purely ratio- nal , making decisions that maximize benefits while minimizing costs . The ability to make perfectly rational decisions involves , among other things , a clear set of preferences or goals , complete ...
Page 103
... decisions ( at both levels ) are then ensured by continual evaluation of the actual effects of decisions in light of desired goals . 68 This basic distinction between " contextual " and bit decisions mirrors the classical distinction ...
... decisions ( at both levels ) are then ensured by continual evaluation of the actual effects of decisions in light of desired goals . 68 This basic distinction between " contextual " and bit decisions mirrors the classical distinction ...
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
The Cultural Dimensions of The Active Society | 23 |
The Cybernetic Institutionalist | 53 |
Copyright | |
14 other sections not shown
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abolitionist action Active Society agency agency-enhancing alienation Amerco American Amitai Etzioni analysis argues authentic basic bureaucracies citizens civil society coalitions collective actors commitment communitarian complex concept conflict consensus constitutional contemporary corporate Court critical culture as practice cybernetic decision-making decisions democracy democratic discourses elites empirical ethical gain Etzioni's theory example forms Free Press futurology Geneva Conventions goals groups Hannah Arendt Human Rights Human Rights Watch Ibid ideology important inauthenticity individual institutions intellectuals International Criminal Court issues Jean-Paul Akayesu knowledge liberal liberal democratic malleable means mobilization modern moral MoveOn MoveOn.org needs normative organizational organizations participation post-capitalist post-Fordist post-modern potential problem produce rape reality-testing responsive Review role Selznick sense sexual violence social and political social movements social structures Sociology suffragists symbolic bundles Theory of Societal tion tive transformation United University Press values women York