Never before published, American Society is the product of Talcott Parsons' last major theoretical project. Completed just a few weeks before his death, this is Parsons' promised 'general book on American society'. It offers a systematic presentation and revision of Parson's landmark theoretical positions on modernity and the possibility of objective sociological knowledge. Even after the passage of many years, American Society imparts a remarkably provocative interpretation of US society and a creative approach to social theory.

In case studies that examine wrenching historical and contemporary crises across five continents, cultural sociologists analyze the contingencies of trauma construction and their fateful social impact. How do some events get coded as traumatic and others which seem equally painful and dramatic not? Why do culpable groups often escape being categorized as perpetrators? Why are some horrendously injured parties not seen as victims? Why do some trauma constructions lead to moral restitution and justice, while others narrow solidarity and trigger future violence? Expanding the pioneering cultural...