The legacy ofThe coming crisis: Gouldner’s contribution to social theory

Abstract

In reflecting upon the lasting contr ibut ions of Gouldner 's The Coming Crisis, w e have found it useful to examine the rather curious responses the book has evoked over its twenty-year history. On the one hand, the book has been accorded the kind of attention appropriate to major works, as evidenced by this re t rospect ive assessment, as well as by extensive rev iews--a lbe i t mostly critical ones and citations. Some of the conceptual apparatus Gouldner introduced, such as "domain assumptions" and "reflexive sociology" have b e c o m e part of the lexicon of con temporary sociology. His path-breaking cri t ique of Parsons has been fol lowed by several analyses of the social contexts of social theorists, including further analyses of Parsons's functionalist theory. On the other hand, however , there is little evidence that Gouldner 's contr ibut ions to sociological theory and practice have been seriously accepted. Most popular current theory textbooks surveying the field, for example, rout inely ignore Gouldner as a substantive theorist, and he is similarly dismissed in the methodological literature, though he raised major epistemological issues. In addition, there has not developed a visible following that seeks to analyze, systematize and develop his work. Yet, our central content ion in this brief essay is that Gouldner 's work embodies significant theore t ica l -and at tendant methodologica l -cont r ibu t ions to sociology. Writ ten as critique, The Coming Crisis is not, admittedly, presented in the codification and convergence format in which general theoretical contr ibut ions are conventionally expressed. Further, Gouldner emphasized that the themes of