“Societal Community” and the Public Sphere in Talcott Parsons' Last Formula

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to consider the issues of community and public sphere in contemporary society by re-examining Parsons' theoretical thinking in his last formula. The principal source for this project is his final, massive and unpublished manuscript, American Societal Community (ASC). The starting point isglocalization as Roland Robertson put it, which has influenced the transformation of both community and the public sphere. This concerns solidarity, differentiation, and de-differentiation in sociological terminology. The situation is analyzed in connection with the theoretical paraphrasing in the ASC, pointing out such key-terms as “anchored, ” “transformation, ” “articulation, ” and epic. Apart from the term epic, which is employed by Robertson and Wolin, the above-mentioned terms are frequently found in the ASC. The author here tries to show the deep and strong relevance of Parsons' last formula on societal community and public sphere with the contemporary situation.