HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL RELATIONS
EMERSON HALL
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS 02138
April 6, 1964
Professor Reinhard Bendix
Department of Sociology
University of California
Berkeley 4, California
Dear Reinhard:
I did not immediately amswer your telegram because within
a day or two Charles Ackerman accepted an offer to go to Cornell.
He knew about the possibility at Berkeley and made his decision
quite deliberately in the light of that. Therefore, it did not
seem necessary to enter into an evaluation. He is certainly a
very able young man, and I expect him to have an important future.
I shall look forward to seeing you in Heidelberg which
approaches rapidly. I have, within the last few days, read the
papers of both Aron and Marcuse; and I must say that I am some-
what disappointed, particularly in Aron. It seems to me that
he might have put his treatment of Weber in a broader context
than simply that of his place in relation to the problem of his
own time. Weber was certainly one of the most important theorists
of political power and there is much of his contribution Aron
simply does not touch. Of course, I rather expected the general
line that is taken by Marcuse which seems to me only one aspect
of Weber's very complex attitude system. In general, I am afraid
I will be something of a Daniel in the Lion's den in my much more
positive note about both Weber's own contribution and the nature
of industrial society. At any rate we will hope that there will
be some good discussions. I'll look forward to seeing you there.
Sincerely,
' — ’ —
j 4 4p
Talcott Parsons
TP:vb
April 9, 1964
Professor Talicctt Parsons
Depextment of Social Relations
Enerson Hall
Coembridge, Massachusetts--02138
Dear Taleott:
In the meantime I heard from Ackerman that he was going to Cornell.
What you write concerning the forthcoming meetings in Heidelberg
is, I fear, only part of it. I have the distinct impression that the
oceasion of the centenary is being used by all and sundry to make Weber
& vhipping-boy of the umresolved intellectual legacies of Germany for
the last half century. If you consider that Marcuse sounds not only
like Imkacz but also like Leo Strauss and Eric Voegelin and Wolfgan
Momsen - and Christoph Steding (I shall check this last before I ‘eve,
he was a Nazi philosopher in the thirties), you begin to wonder. I
shall make a reference to this, but then I am only a discussant. I heve
not seen Aron's paper, but from your description one might infer that he
is aware of this wnholy alliance and seeks to provide a corrective by
deliberately emphasizing Weber's contemporary setting. That is a possible
construction anyway, since he is a sensitive political observer.
We shall see. It is some irony, is it not, that the Americans (in-
cluding this assimilated American) come to Weber's defense on this occa-
sion, while the unreconstructed Germans from both sides of the Atlantic
are fighting the old battles. That might be worth another coment.
I doubt that the discussions will be worthwhile under these circum-
stances, but they will be interesting - sociologically!
Many thanks for your note. See you in Heitelberg.
Sincerely,
Reinhard Bendix
Professor of Sociology
RB: amw
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL RELATIONS
William James Hall
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
February 15, 1966
Professor Reinhard Bendix
Department of Sociology
University of California
Berkeley 4, California
Dear Reinhard:
The enclosed material about the proposed series on sociology
for the Voice of America Forum will, I think, explain the main
problem that I am approaching you on. I wanted, however, to
add a personal note to say how much I hope that you will be will-
ing to undertake lecture number 10 on "Modern Societies", What
I would hope for here is the comparative structural approach
which I know is so congenial you and within which so much of your
own work has fallen. We can give you until April lst as a dead-
tine and I very sincerely hope you will be able to undertake it.
The recording can be done locally in Berkeley. It will not occa-
sion any travel on your part,
Cordially, ;
og
Lacon
Talcott Parsons
TP:kt
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL RELATIONS |
William James Hall
_ Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
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3 February 15, 1966
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Dear Reinhard:
You are probably familiar with the Voice of America's Forum program, which
broadcasts series of half-hour talks on a variety of topical areas, by out-
standing American specialists in the fields to some 80 foreign countries.
Some of these series have been centered on academic disciplines - there have
already been series on political science, anthropology, and economics, for i
example, but there have also been series on such topics as Music in the United r
States, Mass Communication and American Education. In addition to the broadcast,
each talk is published in pamphlet form and widely distributed, and it is planned
that the series will be collected in book form, as a number already have been. \
~
I have agreed to serve as coordinator of a new series of between 25 and 30 oF
half-hour lectures on Sociology as a discipline, with special reference to its
development in the United States. I am sending you herewith a tentative list
of topics for the particular lectures. Both the list itself and the order in
which they are to be presented are still decidedly tentative, and suggestions
for its revision will be welcome.
In this tentative spirit I should like to ask whether you would be willing to
undertake the lecture 10 on the topic of Modern Societies
You will be expected to preparefy April Ist, 1966 a manuscript of 15-16
double-spaced type-written pages. After the usual editorial processing, in which
all changes will be submitted to the author for approval, you will be asked to
make arrangements through the Washington office of Forum for recording for broad-
casting purposes. For this service, I am authorized to offer an honorarium of $250.
Please, within the broad framework of the outline, consider yourself as free as
possible to define and treat the topic suggested in the way which is most congenial
to you. You can appreciate that we wish to present in the series as a whole a
reasonably full coverage of the principal interests of sociology, but within these
limits we would like every author to discuss a topic in which he has a special
interest, in his own way. If the topic I suggest to you is not congenial, but
another in the outline is more so, I am open to the suggestion of a change. I
have deliberately not included suggested names in the outline enclosed, because
I cannot await canvassing of all possible choices by all potential authors. If,
however, another topic is more congenial and it has not been accepted by another
author when I hear from you, I would be glad to consider the shift. The same
goes for willingness to write and talk on topics not included in the outline, but
clearly important in American sociology today. You will appreciate that limitations
of space have made it impossible to include all possibly significant subtopics,
and that the new ones can only be considered subject to such exigencies. However,
please feel free to discuss these matters by letter or by phone ( you may call me
collect: Area Code 617, UN 8-7600, Ext. 3817 ). There is some urgency in getting
this settled as soon as possible, so I hope to hear from you soon,
I very much hope that you will be willing to contribute to this important series.
It is my impression that this is one of the highest level - intellectually
speaking - of American Government enterprises, and one which is most fully aloof
from controversial political issues of the immediate situation, in short, one
congenial to most academic people,
Sincerely, | ae | :
Valet Rew
Talcott Parsons — 2 Ee ; =
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February 18, 1966
Professor Talcott Parsons
Department of Social Relations
Harvard University
William James Hall
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
Dear Professor Parsons:
Thank you for your letter of February 15. My inclination is to
try my hand at this although the deadline makes me a bit uneasy.
i shall attempt to deal with several contrasts between tradition
and modernity and then briefly speak of the diversity of modern
societies. I hope this comes close enough to what you had in
mind, I shall try my hand at it since it sounds like a worthwhile
With best regards,
Cordially yours
Reinhard Bendix
Professor
RB: CRM
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL RELATIONS
William James Hall
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
March 2, 1966
Professor Reinhard Bendix
Department of Sociology
University of California
Berkeley, California
Dear Reinhard:
Thanks for your note, I am indeed delighted to
hear that you are willing to undertake the piece for the Voice
of America Series and will look forward to receiving your
manuscript in due course,
Cordially,
herr
Talcott Parsons
TP:kt
March 22, 1966
Professor Talcott Parsons
Department of Social Relations
Harvard University
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
Dear Talcott:
Here is my text for the talk in the Voice of America Series.
I take it someone will edit to make it read a little more smoothly.
Presumably I will hear from you when I receive the edited manuscript
concerning my next steps.
For the moment, I have only one additional question. Will
the text be printed by the Voice of America? And if so, will it be
possible to order reprints? The Institute of Industrial Relations,
of which I am a member, has a large community education program, and
a talk like this might serve some of their purposes.
With best regards,
Cordially yours,
Reinhard Bendix
RB/bp
Enclosure
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL RELATIONS
William James Hall
Cambridge, - Massachusetts 02138
April 12, 1966
Professor Reinhard Bendix
Department of Sociology
University of California
Berkeley, California
Dear Reinhard:
Just a note to say that I have read
your piece for the Voice of America Forum
Series and find it admirable. I certainly
do not think that any serious editing is
needed at this stage, so I am sending it on
to the people in Washington. You will be
hearing further from them. Thanks very much
for doing it so promptly and so well.
Cordially,
| GA
Talcott Parsons
TPskt
a,
July 22, 1966
seer Bentaccd.
As you know it is expected that the Voice of America Forwa Series will
be published in book form. It is up to the coordinator of the series
to mske the specific arrangements snd on the basis of this I have been
in negotiation with Basic Books. The publisher will pay normal royalties
but since 24 people are involved, the shares accruing to each would be
small. iIt is suggested that it would be a mice gesture to assign royal-
ties to the American Sociological Association. This I understand has been
done in the case of other series.
A particular problem of conscience arises for your coordinator. Dr.
Werthime of YVOA has told me that in a number of other cases the coordinator
has taken 25 per cent of the royalties, since the editing of the volume
is his responsibility and that in several cases the remaining 75 per cent
hss been assigned to the relevant association. My problem of conscience
is whether to follow the precedent or to join the rest of you in donating
the editor's share also to the Association. I should be receptive to
suggestions.
Furthermore if the majority of persons object to assignment of their shares
to the American Sociological Association I should of course respect this
judgement and arrange a contract which would provide for individual royal-
ties. I am afraid that the issue must be decided by majority vote and that
if only a minority of individuals request royalties their request cannot be
granted.
Cordially,
aber
fTaleott Parsons
TP/dih
Professor Rinehart Bendix
University of California
Department of Sociology
Berkeley, California 94704
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL RELATIONS
William James Hall
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
August 16, 1966
Professor Reinhard Bendix
Department of Sociology
University of California
Berkeley, California 94720
Dear Reinhard:
Just a note to tell you that the overwhelming majority of the participants
in the Voice of America program have approved the suggestion of putting
the bulk of the royalties at the disposal of the ASA. I have therefore
signed the contract but with 80% rather than 75% going to the Association .
I have written Robin Williams in his capacity as chairman of the Committee
on Publications making the offer and have passed on to him your suggestion
that a special use for the money be worked out and that another Association
prize might be an appropriate one.
Cordially,
rds
bere
Talcott Parsons
TP:kt
January 27, 1967
To: Contributors to Voice of America Series
Res Revised manuscripts
Deadline: February 15, 1967
Dear Kesaske L.
Your coitribution to the VOA Forum Series has been greatly appreciated. As
you know the broadcasting has been going on through the Fall and Winter
and Ted Wertime informs me that reactions have been very favorable.
Wertime would like to have the manuscripts ready for submission to Basic _
Books ss soon as possible. Many of you I know will be willing to let your
manuscript stand but if you revise it please get the copy in aS soon as
possible. A revised version must be in my hands by February 15 if it is te
be included. Incidentally, space limits for the broadcast will aot apply
to printed version.
Sincerely,
we"
lables (ho SOus
Falcett Parsons
