Robert K. Merton

Robert K. Merton (1910-2003) was one of the most influential sociologists of the twentieth century, producing clear theories and innovative research that continue to shape multiple disciplines. Merton's reach can be felt in the study of social structure, social psychology, deviance, professions, organizations, culture, and science. Yet for all his fame, Merton is only partially understood. He is treated by scholars as a functional analyst, when in truth his contributions transcend paradigm.

Gathering together twelve major sociologists, Craig Calhoun launches a thorough reconsideration of Merton's achievements and inspires a renewed engagement with sociological theory. Merton's work addressed the challenges of integrating research and theory. It connected different fields of empirical research and spoke to the importance of overcoming divisions between allegedly pure and applied sociology. Merton also sought to integrate sociology with the institutional analysis of science, each informing the other. By bringing together different aspects of his work in one volume, Calhoun illuminates the interdisciplinary—and unifying—dimensions of Merton's approach, while also advancing the intellectual agenda of an increasingly vital area of study.

Contributors: Aaron L. Panofsky, University of California; Alan Sica, Pennsylvania State University; Alejandro Portes, Princeton University; Charles Camic, Northwestern University; Charles Tilly, Columbia University; Craig Calhoun, Social Science Research Council and New York University; Cynthia Fuchs Epstein, City University of New York; Harriet Zuckerman, Mellon Foundation; Peter Simonson, University of Colorado; Ragnvald Kalleberg, University of Oslo; Robert J. Sampson, Harvard University; Thomas F. Gieryn, Indiana University; Viviana A. Zelizer, Princeton University

Craig Calhoun is president of the Berggruen Institute. He was previously director and president of the London School of Economics and Political Science, where he remains Centennial Professor.

This wide-ranging and thoughtfully conceived compilation opens up new and fresh perspectives on Merton’s work.

It is refreshing when more extensive exegesis of a sociological theorist’s work is developed and published in such a well-constructed volume.

Helga Nowotny, president, European Research Council:
This collective work is a carefully crafted redescription of the intellectual 'travels and adventures' of one of the most influential sociologists of the twentieth century. Following Robert K. Merton's definition of serendipity, the reader will find unanticipated observations yielding an unanticipated kind of new knowledge. The book succeeds brilliantly in integrating the multifaceted yet deeply interconnected sociocognitive and semantic strands of the Mertonian oeuvre. With exceptional clarity, untapped conceptual resources for contemporary and future sociology are rendered visible.

Margaret R. Somers, University of Michigan:
Craig Calhoun and his colleagues delve into the vast depths of Robert K. Merton's relatively unfamiliar writings, including those that are unpublished, and present us with an astonishingly complex and germane vision of sociological inquiry.

Kai Erickson, Yale University:
American sociology over the past century probably owes more to Robert K. Merton than to any other scholar. He taught whole generations of us how to see the world sociologically, think about it sociologically, and study it sociologically. The essays that make up this book, opening with the masterful introduction by its editor, Craig Calhoun, approach Merton from a number of different vantage points, and together they provide a striking intellectual portrait of this very special person.

Michèle Lamont, Harvard University:
In this stimulating and informative volume, leading sociologists explain the range and lasting significance of Robert K. Merton's research for contemporary social science. An important read for those who want to build on the shoulders of giants without reinventing the wheel.