This book examines Talcott Parsons’ contributions to sociology, considering the subsequent adaptation and practical importance of his efforts to conceptualize the social world via the unifying structure of four functions.

This book examines the contributions made by Talcott Parsons to sociology over the course of a career spanning half a century. Summarizing the development of Parsons’ thought, it shows how his work on the conceptualization of the social world via the unifying structure of four functions—adaptation, goal-attainment, integration, and latent pattern maintenance (or AGIL)—can further the goal of explanation and understanding social phenomena. With attention to the contemporary and subsequent reception and adaptation of Parsons’ work, its practical importance, and its continuing relevance to our understanding of the social world, Reintroducing Talcott Parsons will appeal to scholars and students of sociology with interests in social theory and the history of social thought.