Archive

In this episode, Dr. Daniel Silver, Professor of Sociology at the University of Toronto Scarborough and author of Scenescapes: how qualities of place shape social life (2020), joins us to discuss and read from Talcott Parsons’ On Institutions and Social Evolution, edited by Leon H. Mayhew. In our conversation, Dan helps me understand the logic of Parsons and convinces me of the joy of engaging with his ambitious theorizing. We also discuss the central place Parsons occupied in the discipline, his rather strange and rapid fall from grace, and how this frees the reader to engage with his ideas and arguments.

In this episode, Amy Guptill, Professor of Sociology at The College at Brockport, State University of New York, discusses her recent discovery of Niklas Luhmann and systems theory. In particular, Amy reflects on how Luhmann avoids some of the negatives associated with his intellectual mentor Talcott Parsons and provides a powerful tool to better conceptualize food production and consumption.

*This is the final of three GTaC episodes hosted by Alysha Rios, undergraduate sociology major at SUNY Brockport. Thanks Alysha.