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{{Short description|American sociologist (1929–2023)}} | ||
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{{Autobiography|date=December 2019}} | {{Autobiography|date=December 2019}} | ||
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{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2013}} | |||
{{Infobox scholar | {{Infobox scholar | ||
| name |
| name = Amitai Etzioni | ||
| native_name = אמיתי עציוני | |||
| image = | |||
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| caption = Etzioni at Community Links in 2009 | |||
| caption = Etzioni at Community Links in 2009 | |||
| fullname = | |||
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| fullname = | ||
| othernames = | |||
| birth_name = Werner Falk | |||
| birth_name = Werner Falk | |||
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1929|01|04|df=y}} | |||
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1929|1|4}} | |||
| birth_place = ], ] | |||
| birth_place = ], ], ], ] | |||
| death_date = | |||
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2023|5|31|1929|1|4}} | |||
| death_place = | |||
| death_place = ], U.S. | |||
| death_cause = | |||
| spouse = {{ubl|{{marriage|Chava Horowitz|1953|1964|end = divorced}}|{{marriage|Minerva Morales|1965|1985|end = died}}|{{marriage|Patricia Kellogg|1992}}}} | |||
| residence = | |||
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| children = 5 | ||
| workplaces = ]<br />]<br />] | |||
| region = | |||
| doctoral_advisor = ] | |||
| workplaces = ]<br />]<br />] | |||
| principal_ideas = ], ] | |||
| alma_mater = ]<br />] | |||
| education = ] (], ])<br />] (]) | |||
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| doctoral_advisor = ] | |||
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| principal_ideas = ], ] | |||
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}} | }} | ||
{{Communitarianism sidebar}} | {{Communitarianism sidebar}} | ||
'''Amitai Etzioni''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|æ|m|ɪ|t|aɪ|_|ˌ|ɛ|t|s|i|ˈ|oʊ|n|i}};<ref>{{Cite AV media|url=<!-- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IECgdcf9U0I --><!-- Copyvio video -->|title=Interview with Amitai Etzioni|time=<!-- 0:35 -->|work=BBC World News}}</ref> born '''Werner Falk''', January 4, 1929) is a German-born Israeli and American ], best known for his work on ] and ]. He founded the Communitarian Network, a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to supporting the moral, social, and political foundations of society. | |||
'''Amitai Etzioni''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|æ|m|ɪ|t|aɪ|_|ˌ|ɛ|t|s|i|ˈ|oʊ|n|i}};<ref>{{Cite AV media|url=<!-- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IECgdcf9U0I --><!-- Copyvio video -->|title=Interview with Amitai Etzioni|time=<!-- 0:35 -->|work=BBC World News}}</ref> né '''Werner Falk'''; 4 January 1929 – 31 May 2023) was an Israeli-American ], best known for his work on ] and ]. He founded the Communitarian Network, a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to supporting the moral, social, and political foundations of society. He established the network to disseminate the movement's ideas. His writings argue for a carefully crafted balance between individual rights and social responsibilities, and between autonomy and order, in social structure. In 2001, he was named among the top 100 American intellectuals, as measured by academic citations, in ]'s book, ''Public Intellectuals: A Study of Decline''. | |||
Etzioni was the Director of the Institute for Communitarian Policy Studies at The ], where he also served as a professor of International Affairs. | |||
==Early life and education== | ==Early life and education== | ||
Amitai Etzioni was born Werner Falk in ], Germany in 1929 to a Jewish family. In January 1933, Etzioni was only four years old when the car he was riding in made a sharp turn and, in response, he grabbed a handle that opened the door. Etzioni was pulled back into the car at the last moment by his father, but, as noted in his memoir, ''My Brother's Keeper'', this memory foreshadowed the upcoming doom that would overtake his homeland during the Nazi rule. Later in 1933, Etzioni and his grandparents were walking through the forest next to ] when they came upon a forest fire. Suddenly, Hitler Youth ventured into the forest, riding in two trucks. Etzioni's grandparents reacted by grabbing Amitai and rushing down the hill |
Amitai Etzioni was born Werner Falk in ], Germany in 1929 to a Jewish family. In January 1933, Etzioni was only four years old when the car he was riding in made a sharp turn and, in response, he grabbed a handle that opened the door. Etzioni was pulled back into the car at the last moment by his father, but, as noted in his memoir, ''My Brother's Keeper'', this memory foreshadowed the upcoming doom that would overtake his homeland during the Nazi rule.{{fact|date=November 2022}} | ||
Later in 1933, Etzioni and his grandparents were walking through the forest next to ] when they came upon a forest fire. Suddenly, ] ventured into the forest, riding in two trucks. Etzioni's grandparents reacted by grabbing Amitai and rushing down the hill without explaining what happened in this close encounter with the Nazis, which fed into his sense of fear and foreboding.<ref name="My Brother's Keeper: A Memoir and a">{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=My Brother's Keeper: A Memoir and a Message |date=2003 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. |location=Lanham, MD |isbn=978-0-7425-2158-2 |pages=3–5}}</ref> | |||
By the time he turned five, both of his parents had escaped to London, which left Etzioni in the care of his grandparents. Etzioni was smuggled out of Germany soon afterwards, arriving at a train station in Italy with a non-Jewish relative, who soon reunited Etzioni with his parents. Etzioni was stuck with his parents in Athens, Greece for a |
By the time he turned five, both of his parents had escaped to London, which left Etzioni in the care of his grandparents. Etzioni was smuggled out of Germany soon afterwards, arriving at a train station in Italy with a non-Jewish relative, who soon reunited Etzioni with his parents. Etzioni was stuck with his parents in ] for a year, unable to enter ] since his family was awarded a bachelor permit instead of a family permit. When the paperwork was finally resolved, Etzioni found himself learning ] in ], Mandatory Palestine in the winter of 1937.<ref name="My Brother's Keeper: A Memoir and a"/> | ||
At this time, he began to go by the first name ''Amitai'' instead of Werner, since the principal of Etzioni's new school strongly encouraged Etzioni to introduce himself by a Hebrew name. He was given the name Amitai based on the Hebrew word for truth (''emet'') and the name of Jonah's father in the |
At this time, he began to go by the first name ''Amitai'' instead of Werner, since the principal of Etzioni's new school strongly encouraged Etzioni to introduce himself by a Hebrew name. He was given the name Amitai based on the Hebrew word for truth (''emet'') and the name of Jonah's father in the ] (''Amittai'').<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=My Brother's Keeper |page=6}}</ref> Etzioni moved with his family to a small village, Herzliya Gimmel, which served as a base for an emerging community called ]. When Etzioni was eight, he moved to the new village, where his family was assigned to a small, boxlike new house and a small farming lot. In the spring of 1941, Etzioni's father left to join the ], which was a Jewish unit formed within the British army. Etzioni, at the age of thirteen, was struggling at school, which then caused his mother to send him to a boarding school in ]. | ||
In the spring of 1946, at the age of seventeen, Etzioni dropped out of high school to join the ], the elite commando force of the ], the underground army of the Jewish community of Palestine, and was sent to ] for military training.<ref>http://www.haaretz.co.il/misc/1.940212</ref> When the Palmach learned that the British police had captured a list of the Palmach members, they were issued new, fake ID cards and had to choose new last names. Amitai Falk chose ''Etzioni'', a |
In the spring of 1946, at the age of seventeen, Etzioni dropped out of high school to join the ], the elite commando force of the ], the underground army of the Jewish community of Palestine, and was sent to ] for military training.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.haaretz.co.il/misc/1.940212|title = אפילו הישראלים יכולים להתגבר על הקרעים החברתיים, משוכנע נביא הקהילתנות|newspaper = הארץ|date = 20 January 2004|last1 = דרור|first1 = יובל}}</ref> When the Palmach learned that the British police had captured a list of the Palmach members, they were issued new, fake ID cards and had to choose new last names. Amitai Falk chose ''Etzioni'', a pen name he had used when he started writing in Ben Shemen at age 15. | ||
During Etzioni's time in the Palmach, it carried out a campaign of blowing up bridges and police stations to drive out the British, who were blocking Jews escaping post-Holocaust Europe from immigrating to Palestine and standing in the way of the establishment of a Jewish state.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/opinion/2002/07/03/ncguest1.htm|title=Throw book at terrorists who hide as civilians|last=Etzioni|first=Amitai|date=2002 |
During Etzioni's time in the Palmach, it carried out a campaign of blowing up bridges and police stations to drive out the British, who were blocking Jews escaping post-Holocaust Europe from immigrating to Palestine and standing in the way of the establishment of a Jewish state.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/opinion/2002/07/03/ncguest1.htm|title=Throw book at terrorists who hide as civilians|last=Etzioni|first=Amitai|date=2 July 2002|work=USA Today}}</ref> In contrast to the ], the Palmach largely sought to affect British and global public opinion rather than cause casualties. Etzioni describes his early life and decision to join the Palmach in the video "The Making of a Peacenik".<ref name="youtube.com"/> Etzioni's Palmach unit participated in the defense of ], which was under siege by the ]. His unit sneaked through Arab lines to fight to defend Jerusalem and to open a corridor to ], participating in the ] and the establishment of the ].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=My Brother's Keeper |pages=28–31}}</ref> | ||
Following the war, Etzioni spent a year studying at an institute established by ]. In 1951, he enrolled in the ], where he completed both BA (1954) and MA (1956) degrees in sociology. In 1957, he went to the United States to study at the ], and was a research assistant to ]. He received his |
Following the war, Etzioni spent a year studying at an institute established by ]. In 1951, he enrolled in the ], where he completed both BA (1954) and MA (1956) degrees in sociology. In 1957, he went to the United States to study at the ], and was a research assistant to ]. He received his PhD in sociology in 1958, completing the degree in the record time of 18 months.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=My Brother's Keeper |page=51}}</ref> | ||
==Academic career== | ==Academic career== | ||
{{Prose|section|date=October 2021}} | |||
* 1958–1978: Professor, ] | * 1958–1978: Professor, ] | ||
* 1978: Guest Scholar, ] | * 1978: Guest Scholar, ] | ||
* 1979–1980: Senior Advisor to the ] | * 1979–1980: Senior Advisor to the ] | ||
* |
* 1980–2010s: University Professor, Professor of International Affairs, and Director of the Institute for Communitarian Policy Studies, The ] | ||
* 1987–1990: Thomas Henry Carroll Ford Foundation Professor, ] | * 1987–1990: Thomas Henry Carroll Ford Foundation Professor, ] | ||
* 1989: Founder and President of the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics | * 1989: Founder and President of the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics | ||
* |
* 1993: Founder and Director of the Communitarian Network | ||
* 1994–1995: President, ] | * 1994–1995: President, ] | ||
==Personal life== | |||
After graduating with his Ph.D., Etzioni then remained in the United States to pursue a career as an academic and ]. He became an American citizen in 1963, shortly after he was elected to the board of Americans for Democratic Action. Etzioni met a fellow student named Hava while studying sociology in Israel. They married in 1953. Etzioni and Hava relocated to the United States in 1957.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=My Brother's Keeper |page=44}}</ref> They had two sons together, Ethan, born in 1958 and ], born in 1962.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=My Brother's Keeper |pages=52, 66}}</ref> In 1964, Hava and Etzioni divorced and Hava moved back to Israel.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=My Brother's Keeper |page=77}}</ref> In his autobiography, Etzioni writes that the divorce was one of his "gravest personal failures. We should have found a way."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=My Brother's Keeper |page=78}}</ref> | |||
In 1966, Etzioni married Mexican scholar Minerva Morales.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=My Brother's Keeper |page=78}}</ref> They had three sons: Michael, David, and Benjamin. Morales was raised Catholic, but converted to Judaism, Etzioni's religion.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=My Brother's Keeper |page=168}}</ref> On December 20, 1985, Minerva was killed in a car crash.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=My Brother's Keeper |page=170}}</ref> Etzioni has written of his considerable grief over her death and his son Michael. His son, Michael, died of a heart attack in 2006, leaving behind a pregnant wife and a son.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=My Brother's Keeper |pages=170–173}}and {{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/07/opinion/07etzioni.html|title=Coping with the Death of a Loved One|last=Etzioni|first=Amitai|date=2006-10-07|work=The New York Times|access-date=2018-09-17|language=en}}</ref> | |||
Etzioni provided a personal account of his work and life in a memoir called ''My Brother's Keeper''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=My Brother's Keeper}}</ref> He has augmented this account with an essay about losing his voice called "My Kingdom for a Wave."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://theamericanscholar.org/my-kingdom-for-a-wave/|title=My Kingdom for a Wave|last=Etzioni|first=Amitai|date=2013-12-06|work=The American Scholar|access-date=2018-09-17|language=en-US}}</ref> He revealed his early childhood experiences to be the source of his feelings against war and aggression in a short video, called "."<ref name="youtube.com">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhDOYeiAiIA</ref> | |||
==Work== | ==Work== | ||
Etzioni |
Etzioni authored over 30 books. About half are academic, the most important of which is ''The Active Society'', and half written for the public, especially ''The Spirit of Community''. His early academic work focused on organizational theory, resulting in the often-cited ''A Comparative Analysis of Complex Organizations'', published in 1961.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=My Brother's Keeper |pages=61–64}}</ref> | ||
The book was well received in academic circles. A book review in ''Political Science Quarterly'' by Peter Fricke called it “a principal text for students of organizations.”<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=My Brother's Keeper |page=63}}</ref> The book established Etzioni's academic credentials and led to many studies, which Etzioni reviewed and included in a revised edition of the same title, published in 1975.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=My Brother's Keeper |page=63}}</ref> He expressed the same basic ideas in a much shorter book, Modern Organizations, which was translated into a large number of languages. | |||
Much of Etzioni's best-known work is about ]. According to Etzioni, communitarianism is centered on the communal definition of good. It thus stresses the role of community in social and political life and institutions. It rose in response to libertarianism and some forms of contemporary liberalism, both of which are centered on liberty and individual rights. Modern communitarian thinking was formed in the 1980s and early 1990s, but Etzioni points out that communitarianism can be found in many earlier belief systems and texts, including the ], the ], ], and ]. Communitarian ideas were adopted by Western political leaders of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, including British Prime Minister ], U.S. Presidents ] and ], Dutch Prime Minister ], and a German group Die Neue Mitte. | |||
Etzioni often acknowledged that the term ''communitarian'' was coined in 1841 by ], a leader of the British ], who used it to refer to utopian socialist ideas. However, in the 1980s, the term gained its current meaning through the work of a small group of mostly American political philosophers, which included ], ], Avner de-Shalit, ], ], ], ], ], ], and Amitai Etzioni. | |||
The book was well received in academic circles. A book review in ''Political Science Quarterly'' by Peter Fricke called it "a principal text for students of organizations."<ref name="My Brother's Keeper">{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=My Brother's Keeper |page=63}}</ref> The book established Etzioni's academic credentials and led to many studies, which Etzioni reviewed and included in a revised edition of the same title, published in 1975.<ref name="My Brother's Keeper"/> He expressed the same basic ideas in a much shorter book, Modern Organizations, which was translated into a large number of languages. | |||
Etzioni contrasts his version of what he calls “liberal communitarianism” with that championed by some East Asian public intellectuals, who extolled social obligations and accorded much less weight to liberty and individual rights. | |||
Much of Etzioni's best-known work is about ]. According to Etzioni, communitarianism is centered on the communal definition of good. It thus stresses the role of community in social and political life and institutions. It rose in response to libertarianism and some forms of contemporary liberalism, both of which are centered on liberty and individual rights. Etzioni contrasts his version of what he calls "liberal communitarianism" with that championed by some East Asian public intellectuals, who extolled social obligations and accorded much less weight to liberty and individual rights. | |||
Liberal communitarianism, as developed by Etzioni, formulated criteria for developing public policies that enable societies to deal with conflicts between the common good and individual rights. These include: (1) no major change in governing public policies and norms is justified unless society encounters serious challenges, (2) limitations on rights can be considered only if there are significant gains to the common good, and (3) adverse side effects that result from policy changes must be treated by introducing strong measures of accountability and oversight. Etzioni worked this out in two of his books, ''The Limits of Privacy'' (1999) and ''The New Normal'' (2015). | |||
Etzioni stresses that preferences are, to a significant extent, socially constructed and hence reflect the values of the communities people are members of. Therefore, one should not treat preferences as unadulterated expressions of individual freedom and should allow for public education to improve these preferences when they turn asocial and surely when they turn anti-social in dogmatic liberal societies.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=Social Norms: Internalization, Persuasion, and History |journal=Law and Society Review |date=2000 |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=157–178 |ssrn=1438172 |doi=10.2307/3115119 |jstor=3115119 }}</ref> | Liberal communitarianism, as developed by Etzioni, formulated criteria for developing public policies that enable societies to deal with conflicts between the common good and individual rights. These include: (1) no major change in governing public policies and norms is justified unless society encounters serious challenges, (2) limitations on rights can be considered only if there are significant gains to the common good, and (3) adverse side effects that result from policy changes must be treated by introducing strong measures of accountability and oversight. Etzioni worked this out in two of his books, ''The Limits of Privacy'' (1999) and ''The New Normal'' (2015). Etzioni stresses that preferences are, to a significant extent, socially constructed and hence reflect the values of the communities people are members of. Therefore, one should not treat preferences as unadulterated expressions of individual freedom and should allow for public education to improve these preferences when they turn asocial and surely when they turn anti-social in dogmatic liberal societies.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=Social Norms: Internalization, Persuasion, and History |journal=Law and Society Review |date=2000 |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=157–178 |ssrn=1438172 |doi=10.2307/3115119 |jstor=3115119 }}</ref> | ||
His main communitarian books are ''The New Golden Rule'' (1996),<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=The New Golden Rule: Community and Morality in a Democratic Society |date=1997 |publisher=Basic Books |location=New York |isbn=978-0-465-04999-8 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/newgoldenrule00amit }}</ref> ''The New Normal'' (2015),<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=The New Normal: Finding a Balance between Individual Rights and the Common Good |date=2015 |publisher=Transaction Publishers |location=New Brunswick, NJ |isbn=978-1-4128-5526-6}}</ref> ''Law and Society in a Populist Age'' (2018),<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=Law and Society in a Populist Age: Balancing Individual Rights and the Common Good |date=2018 |publisher=Bristol University Press |location=Bristol |isbn=978-1-5292-0025-6}}</ref> and ''How Patriotic is the Patriot Act'' (2005).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=How Patriotic is the Patriot Act?: Freedom Versus Security in the Age of Terrorism |date=2004 |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |isbn=978-0-415-95047-3}}</ref> His communitarian treatment of privacy is spelled out in ''The Limits of Privacy'' (1999)<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=The Limits of Privacy |date=2008 |publisher=Basic Books |location=New York |isbn=978-0-7867-2505-2}}</ref> and ''Privacy in a Cyber Age'' (2015).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=Privacy in a Cyber Age: Policy and Practice |date=2015 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=New York |isbn=978-1-137-51358-8}}</ref> | His main communitarian books are ''The New Golden Rule'' (1996),<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=The New Golden Rule: Community and Morality in a Democratic Society |date=1997 |publisher=Basic Books |location=New York |isbn=978-0-465-04999-8 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/newgoldenrule00amit }}</ref> ''The New Normal'' (2015),<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=The New Normal: Finding a Balance between Individual Rights and the Common Good |date=2015 |publisher=Transaction Publishers |location=New Brunswick, NJ |isbn=978-1-4128-5526-6}}</ref> ''Law and Society in a Populist Age'' (2018),<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=Law and Society in a Populist Age: Balancing Individual Rights and the Common Good |date=2018 |publisher=Bristol University Press |location=Bristol |isbn=978-1-5292-0025-6}}</ref> and ''How Patriotic is the Patriot Act'' (2005).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=How Patriotic is the Patriot Act?: Freedom Versus Security in the Age of Terrorism |date=2004 |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |isbn=978-0-415-95047-3}}</ref> His communitarian treatment of privacy is spelled out in ''The Limits of Privacy'' (1999)<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=The Limits of Privacy |date=2008 |publisher=Basic Books |location=New York |isbn=978-0-7867-2505-2}}</ref> and ''Privacy in a Cyber Age'' (2015).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=Privacy in a Cyber Age: Policy and Practice |date=2015 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=New York |isbn=978-1-137-51358-8}}</ref> | ||
Etzioni's contributions to socioeconomics are found in ''The Moral Dimension'' (1988)<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=The Moral Dimension: Toward a New Economics |date=1988 |publisher=The Free Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-02-909901-8}}</ref> and ''Happiness is the Wrong Metric'' (2018).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=Happiness is the Wrong Metric: A Liberal Communitarian Response to Populism |date=2018 |publisher=Springer |location=Washington, DC |isbn=978-3-319-69623-2}}</ref> His main argument is that, in neoclassical economics (the governing form of economics), predictions are poor, the theory about human nature is wrong-headed, and the normative implications are negative. He holds that, rather than assuming that people are seeking to maximize their own utility, one should assume that people are conflicted between (1) their commitments to moral values and the common good and (2) their self-interest. He hence characterized people as |
Etzioni's contributions to socioeconomics are found in ''The Moral Dimension'' (1988)<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=The Moral Dimension: Toward a New Economics |date=1988 |publisher=The Free Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-02-909901-8}}</ref> and ''Happiness is the Wrong Metric'' (2018).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=Happiness is the Wrong Metric: A Liberal Communitarian Response to Populism |date=2018 |publisher=Springer |location=Washington, DC |isbn=978-3-319-69623-2}}</ref> His main argument is that, in neoclassical economics (the governing form of economics), predictions are poor, the theory about human nature is wrong-headed, and the normative implications are negative. He holds that, rather than assuming that people are seeking to maximize their own utility, one should assume that people are conflicted between (1) their commitments to moral values and the common good and (2) their self-interest. He hence characterized people as "moral wrestlers." He showed that people act mainly as members of social groups, rather than as free-standing agents. Typically, the main issue is not that the government interferes unduly in the market, but that concentrations of economic power in the private sector unduly affect the government and social life. | ||
Etzioni considers ''The Active Society'' his most important work. The book was published in 1968. It starts by discussing philosophical questions about the extent to which people have free will and the extent to which human fate is predetermined, beyond our understanding and control. It dives into theories related to steering mechanisms that put people in control of inanimate systems, like factory machines, and then demonstrates that democratic processes must be involved in expanding this type of theory to societies and affecting history. Democracy is crucial, because people must participate in creating the signals to which they will respond.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=My Brother's Keeper |pages=100–101}}</ref> | Etzioni considers ''The Active Society'' his most important work. The book was published in 1968. It starts by discussing philosophical questions about the extent to which people have free will and the extent to which human fate is predetermined, beyond our understanding and control. It dives into theories related to steering mechanisms that put people in control of inanimate systems, like factory machines, and then demonstrates that democratic processes must be involved in expanding this type of theory to societies and affecting history. Democracy is crucial, because people must participate in creating the signals to which they will respond.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=My Brother's Keeper |pages=100–101}}</ref> | ||
Later, the book describes the four key parts of a social steering system: decision-making strategies, consensus-building, knowledge, and power. The last part of the book examines human needs and seeks to determine whether they can be altered or whether they remain static. If it is the latter (that human needs are constant), Etzioni looks for ways to guarantee that we restructure society to meet these fixed needs, instead of getting roped into a restructuring scheme that satisfies the needs that society is willing and able to meet, without regard for whether those are the needs that truly need to be met.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=My Brother's Keeper |page=101}}</ref> ''The Active Society'' received positive feedback from reviewers, with one reviewer writing that: | Later, the book describes the four key parts of a social steering system: decision-making strategies, consensus-building, knowledge, and power. The last part of the book examines human needs and seeks to determine whether they can be altered or whether they remain static. If it is the latter (that human needs are constant), Etzioni looks for ways to guarantee that we restructure society to meet these fixed needs, instead of getting roped into a restructuring scheme that satisfies the needs that society is willing and able to meet, without regard for whether those are the needs that truly need to be met.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=My Brother's Keeper |page=101}}</ref> ''The Active Society'' received positive feedback from reviewers, with one reviewer writing that:<blockquote>I consider this to be one of the most important books in its field in the last twenty years. Apart from its substantive contribution to the strategy of societal activation, it offers a whole focus of immensely valuable perspectives for detailed empirical investigation in the future.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=My Brother's Keeper |page=102}}</ref></blockquote> | ||
<blockquote>I consider this to be one of the most important books in its field in the last twenty years. Apart from its substantive contribution to the strategy of societal activation, it offers a whole focus of immensely valuable perspectives for detailed empirical investigation in the future.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=My Brother's Keeper |page=102}}</ref></blockquote> | |||
Betty Friedan wrote that ''The Active Society'' provided a |
] wrote that ''The Active Society'' provided a "philosophical grounding" to her work as a leader of the women's movement.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=My Brother's Keeper |page=103}}</ref> His last book, ''Reclaiming Patriotism'', was published by University of Virginia Press in 2019. | ||
Etzioni contributes to bioethics in ''Genetic Fix''. His last book, ''Reclaiming Patriotism'', which he considers his swan song, was published by University of Virginia Press in 2019. | |||
Etzioni was active in the peace movement, the campaign against nuclear weapons, and the protests against the war in Vietnam. This led to two popular books, ''The Hard Way to Peace'' (1962)<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=The Hard Way to Peace: A New Strategy |url=https://archive.org/details/hardwaytopeace00etzi |url-access=registration |date=1962 |publisher=Collier |location=New York}}</ref> and ''Winning without War'' (1964),<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=Winning without War |url=https://archive.org/details/winningwithoutwa0000etzi |url-access=registration |date=1964 |publisher=Doubleday |location=Garden City, NY}}</ref> and, in later years, to ''From Empire to Community'',<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=From Empire to Community: A New Approach to International Relations |url=https://archive.org/details/fromempiretocomm00etzi_0 |url-access=registration |date=2004 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=New York |isbn=978-0-415-95047-3}}</ref> ''Security First'',<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=Security First: For a Muscular, Moral Foreign Policy |url=https://archive.org/details/securityfirstfor00etzi |url-access=registration |date=2007 |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven |isbn=978-0-300-13804-7}}</ref> ''Hot Spots'',<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=Hot Spots: American Foreign Policy in a Post-Human-Rights World |date=2012 |publisher=Transaction Publishers |location=New Brunswick, NJ |isbn=978-1-4128-5546-4}}</ref> and ''Foreign Policy: Thinking Outside the Box''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=Foreign Policy: Thinking Outside the Box |date=2016 |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |isbn=978-1-138-67830-9}}</ref> He spelled out ways to make China a partner in world order in ''Avoiding War with China'' (2017).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=Avoiding War with China: Two Nations, One World |date=2017 |publisher=University of Virginia Press |location=Charlottesville, VA |isbn=978-0-8139-4003-8}}</ref> His main argument in these books is that the world needs a global community and worldwide forms of governance; however, because people are strongly invested in nations, the world is not ready to transition to a global community. Hence, transnational arrangements must continue to be based on national representations. He shows that democracy must be largely homegrown and cannot be introduced by foreign powers through the use of force. | Etzioni was active in the peace movement, the campaign against nuclear weapons, and the protests against the war in Vietnam. This led to two popular books, ''The Hard Way to Peace'' (1962)<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=The Hard Way to Peace: A New Strategy |url=https://archive.org/details/hardwaytopeace00etzi |url-access=registration |date=1962 |publisher=Collier |location=New York}}</ref> and ''Winning without War'' (1964),<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=Winning without War |url=https://archive.org/details/winningwithoutwa0000etzi |url-access=registration |date=1964 |publisher=Doubleday |location=Garden City, NY}}</ref> and, in later years, to ''From Empire to Community'',<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=From Empire to Community: A New Approach to International Relations |url=https://archive.org/details/fromempiretocomm00etzi_0 |url-access=registration |date=2004 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=New York |isbn=978-0-415-95047-3}}</ref> ''Security First'',<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=Security First: For a Muscular, Moral Foreign Policy |url=https://archive.org/details/securityfirstfor00etzi |url-access=registration |date=2007 |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven |isbn=978-0-300-13804-7}}</ref> ''Hot Spots'',<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=Hot Spots: American Foreign Policy in a Post-Human-Rights World |date=2012 |publisher=Transaction Publishers |location=New Brunswick, NJ |isbn=978-1-4128-5546-4}}</ref> and ''Foreign Policy: Thinking Outside the Box''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=Foreign Policy: Thinking Outside the Box |date=2016 |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |isbn=978-1-138-67830-9}}</ref> He spelled out ways to make China a partner in world order in ''Avoiding War with China'' (2017).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=Avoiding War with China: Two Nations, One World |date=2017 |publisher=University of Virginia Press |location=Charlottesville, VA |isbn=978-0-8139-4003-8}}</ref> His main argument in these books is that the world needs a global community and worldwide forms of governance; however, because people are strongly invested in nations, the world is not ready to transition to a global community. Hence, transnational arrangements must continue to be based on national representations. He shows that democracy must be largely homegrown and cannot be introduced by foreign powers through the use of force. | ||
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Etzioni has published many scores of academic articles, including law reviews, many of which can be found on , as well as hundreds of popular articles in the press and online. His papers are deposited with the ]. | Etzioni has published many scores of academic articles, including law reviews, many of which can be found on , as well as hundreds of popular articles in the press and online. His papers are deposited with the ]. | ||
The following books review Etzioni's work: ''Communitarian Foreign Policy: Amitai Etzioni's Vision'', by Nikolas K. Gvosdev;<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gvosdev |first1=Nicholas K. |title=Communitarian Foreign Policy: Amitai Etzioni's Vision |date=2016 |publisher=Transaction Publishers |location=New Brunswick, NJ |isbn=978-1-4128-6260-8}}</ref> ''The Active Society Revisited'', edited by Wilson Carey |
The following books review Etzioni's work: ''Communitarian Foreign Policy: Amitai Etzioni's Vision'', by Nikolas K. Gvosdev;<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gvosdev |first1=Nicholas K. |title=Communitarian Foreign Policy: Amitai Etzioni's Vision |date=2016 |publisher=Transaction Publishers |location=New Brunswick, NJ |isbn=978-1-4128-6260-8}}</ref> ''The Active Society Revisited'', edited by Wilson Carey McWilliams;<ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=McWilliams |editor-first1=Wilson Carey |title=The Active Society Revisited |date=2005 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. |location=Lanham, MD |isbn=978-0-7425-4915-9}}</ref> ''Amitai Etzioni zur Einführung'', written by Walter Reese-Schafer;<ref>{{cite book |last1=Reese-Schafer |first1=Walter |title=Amitai Etzioni zur Einführung |date=2001 |publisher=Junius Verlag |isbn=978-3-88506-342-1}}</ref> and ''Etzioni's Critical Functionalism Communitarian Origins and Principles'', by David Sciulli.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sciulli |first1=David |title=Etzioni's Critical Functionalism: Communitarian Origins and Principles |date=2011 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-19043-6}}</ref> See also a short documentary by Kevin Hudson, "." | ||
In 2019, Etzioni celebrated his 90th birthday at ], where he launched, curated, and moderated a series of , bringing together public intellectuals with differing points of view on various topics. The videos of these dialogues, as well as many of Etzioni's appearances on television, can be found on YouTube. | In 2019, Etzioni celebrated his 90th birthday at ], where he launched, curated, and moderated a series of , bringing together public intellectuals with differing points of view on various topics. The videos of these dialogues, as well as many of Etzioni's appearances on television, can be found on YouTube. | ||
===Criticism=== | ===Criticism=== | ||
In Simon Prideaux's "From Organisational Theory to the New Communitarium of Amitai Etzioni", he argues that Etzioni's communitarian methods are archaic, and based upon earlier ] definitions of organizations. This is because his methodology fails to address any possible contradictions within the socioeconomic foundations of society. Prideaux states that Etzioni's vision of a communitarian society is "heavily predicated upon what he sees as having gone wrong with present-day social relations"(Prideaux 70). Also, Etzioni's communitarian analysis uses a methodology which existed before the development of an organizational theory. According to Prideaux, Etzioni has taken the methodological influence of structural-functionalism beyond the realms of its organizational branch and fabricated it into a solution to solve the problems of modern society. Etzioni's arguments on the creation of a new communitarian society are restricted to the strengths and weaknesses he witnesses in the American society in which he has lived since the 1950s. This bias "neglects and denies the importance of differences within communities and among communities in different countries."<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Prideaux|first=Simon|date=2002|title=From Organisational Theory to the New Communitarianism of Amitai Etzioni|journal=The Canadian Journal of Sociology|volume=27|issue=1|pages=69–81|doi=10.2307/3341413|jstor=3341413|hdl=1961/1407|hdl-access=free}}</ref> |
In Simon Prideaux's "From Organisational Theory to the New Communitarium of Amitai Etzioni", he argues that Etzioni's communitarian methods are archaic, and based upon earlier ] definitions of organizations. This is because his methodology fails to address any possible contradictions within the socioeconomic foundations of society. Prideaux states that Etzioni's vision of a communitarian society is "heavily predicated upon what he sees as having gone wrong with present-day social relations"(Prideaux 70). Also, Etzioni's communitarian analysis uses a methodology which existed before the development of an organizational theory. According to Prideaux, Etzioni has taken the methodological influence of structural-functionalism beyond the realms of its organizational branch and fabricated it into a solution to solve the problems of modern society. Etzioni's arguments on the creation of a new communitarian society are restricted to the strengths and weaknesses he witnesses in the American society in which he has lived since the 1950s. This bias "neglects and denies the importance of differences within communities and among communities in different countries."<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Prideaux|first=Simon|date=2002|title=From Organisational Theory to the New Communitarianism of Amitai Etzioni|journal=The Canadian Journal of Sociology|volume=27|issue=1|pages=69–81|doi=10.2307/3341413|jstor=3341413|hdl=1961/1407|hdl-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Prideaux|first=Simon|title=From Organisational Theory to the New Communitarium of Amitai Etzioni|journal=Canadian Journal of Sociology|volume=27|issue=1|pages=69–81|year=2002|doi=10.2307/3341413|jstor=3341413|hdl=1961/1407|hdl-access=free}} SocINDEX with full text. EBSCO. web. 13 October 2009.</ref> | ||
Elizabeth Frazer, in |
Elizabeth Frazer, in ''The Problems of Communitarian Politics: Unity and Conflict'', argues that Etzioni's concept of the "nature of community" is vague and elusive, in regards to the idea that the community is involved with every stage of government policies. She also mentions Etzioni's thought that the community has a moral standing equal to that of the individual when she firmly believes it is just the opposite.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Frazer|first=Elizabeth|title=The Problems of Communitarian Politics: Unity and Conflict|page=|url=https://archive.org/details/problemsofcommun0000fraz|url-access=registration|quote=etzioni.|year=1999|publisher=]|isbn=978-0-19-829563-1}}</ref> Warren Breed's ''The Self-Guiding Society'' provides a critical overview of ''The Active Society''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Breed|first=Warren|title=The Self-Guiding Society|url=https://archive.org/details/selfguidingsocie0000bree|url-access=registration|year=1971|publisher=Free Press|isbn=978-0-02-904650-0}}</ref> David Sciulli's ''Etzioni's Critical Functionalism: Communitarian Origins and Principles'' evaluates Etzioni's "functionalism".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sciulli|first=David|title=Etzioni's Critical Functionalism: Communitarian Origins and Principles|year=2011|publisher=Brill Academic Publishers|isbn=978-90-04-19043-6}}</ref> | ||
Etzioni was criticized in 2016 for publishing an article titled "Should Israel Flatten Beirut to Destroy Hezbollah's Missiles?" Lebanese journalist and human rights researcher Kareen Chehayeb called it "ludicrous" that a prominent American professor "can just calmly say the solution is to flatten this entire city of 1 million people."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.salon.com/2016/02/18/prominent_american_professor_proposes_that_israel_flatten_beirut_a_1_million_person_city_it_previously_decimated/|title=Prominent American professor proposes that Israel "flatten Beirut" |
Etzioni was criticized in 2016 for publishing an article titled "Should Israel Flatten Beirut to Destroy Hezbollah's Missiles?" Lebanese journalist and human rights researcher Kareen Chehayeb called it "ludicrous" that a prominent American professor "can just calmly say the solution is to flatten this entire city of 1 million people."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.salon.com/2016/02/18/prominent_american_professor_proposes_that_israel_flatten_beirut_a_1_million_person_city_it_previously_decimated/|title=Prominent American professor proposes that Israel "flatten Beirut" – a 1 million-person city it previously decimated|author=Ben Norton|date=19 February 2016|website=Salon.com}}</ref> | ||
== |
==Personal life== | ||
After graduating with his PhD, Etzioni then remained in the United States to pursue a career as an academic and ]. He became an American citizen in 1963, shortly after he was elected to the board of Americans for Democratic Action. Etzioni met a fellow student named Chava Horowitz while studying sociology in Israel. They married in 1953.<ref name = McFadden>{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/01/us/amitai-etzioni-dead.html|title = Amitai Etzioni, 94, Dies; Envisioned a Society Built on the Common Good|last = McFadden|first = Robert D.|authorlink = Robert D. McFadden|date = 1 June 2023|accessdate = 1 June 2023|newspaper = ]|url-access = limited}}</ref> Etzioni and Chava relocated to the United States in 1957.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=My Brother's Keeper |page=44}}</ref> They had two sons together: Ethan (born 1958) and ] (born 1964).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=My Brother's Keeper |pages=52, 66}}</ref> In 1964, Chava and Etzioni divorced and she returned to Israel.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=My Brother's Keeper |page=77}}</ref> In his autobiography, Etzioni wrote that the divorce was one of his "gravest personal failures. We should have found a way."<ref name="ReferenceB">{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=My Brother's Keeper |page=78}}</ref> | |||
* 1960–1961: Fellowship at the Social Science Research Council | |||
* 1965–1966: Fellowship at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences | |||
In 1966, Etzioni married Mexican scholar Minerva Morales.<ref name="ReferenceB"/> They had three sons: Michael, David, and Benjamin. Morales was raised Catholic, but converted to Judaism, Etzioni's religion.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=My Brother's Keeper |page=168}}</ref> On 20 December 1985, Minerva was killed in a car crash.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=My Brother's Keeper |page=170}}</ref> Etzioni wrote of his considerable grief over her death and that of his son Michael, who died of a heart attack in 2006, leaving behind a pregnant wife and a son.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=My Brother's Keeper |pages=170–173}}and {{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/07/opinion/07etzioni.html|title=Coping with the Death of a Loved One|last=Etzioni|first=Amitai|date=7 October 2006|work=The New York Times|access-date=17 September 2018|language=en}}</ref> In 1992, Etzioni married Patricia Kellogg.<ref name = McFadden/> | |||
* 1968–1969: ] | |||
* 1978–present: Appointment as a Fellow of the ] | |||
Etzioni provided a personal account of his work and life in a memoir called ''My Brother's Keeper''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Etzioni |first1=Amitai |title=My Brother's Keeper}}</ref> He augmented this account with an essay about losing his public voice called "My Kingdom for a Wave."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://theamericanscholar.org/my-kingdom-for-a-wave/|title=My Kingdom for a Wave|last=Etzioni|first=Amitai|date=6 December 2013|work=The American Scholar|access-date=17 September 2018|language=en-US}}</ref> He revealed his early childhood experiences to be the source of his feelings against war and aggression in a short video, called "The Making of a Peacenik."<ref name="youtube.com">Archived at {{cbignore}} and the {{cbignore}}: {{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhDOYeiAiIA| title = The Making of a Peacenik | website=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> | |||
* 1987: The Lester F. Ward Distinguished Contributions Award in Applied Sociology | |||
* 1991: The Ninth Annual Jeffrey Pressman Award (Policy Studies Association) | |||
Etzioni lived at the ] in Washington, D.C., where he died on 31 May 2023, at the age of 94.<ref name = McFadden/> | |||
* 2001: John P. McGovern Award in Behavioral Sciences | |||
* 2001: Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany | |||
* Recipient of the Seventh James Wilbur Award for Extraordinary Contributions to the Appreciation and Advancement of Human Values by the Conference on Value Inquiry | |||
* Recipient of the Sociological Practice Association's Outstanding Contribution Award | |||
* 2016: Officially became a member of the ]. | |||
*Honorary degrees from ] (1980); ] (1987); the ] (1991); ] (1994); ] (1994); ] (1997); ] (2004); and the ] (2009). | |||
==Bibliography== | ==Bibliography== | ||
* {{cite web |last1=Coughlin |first1=Richard M. |title=Amitai Etzioni |url=https://www.asanet.org/amitai-etzioni |website=American Sociological Association | |
* {{cite web |last1=Coughlin |first1=Richard M. |title=Amitai Etzioni |url=https://www.asanet.org/amitai-etzioni |website=American Sociological Association |date=4 June 2009 |access-date=6 October 2016}} | ||
*{{cite journal |last1=De Carvalho |first1=David |title=The challenge of community: Review of New Communitarian Thinking |journal=Quadrant |date=December 1995 |volume=39 |issue=12 |pages=80–82}} | *{{cite journal |last1=De Carvalho |first1=David |title=The challenge of community: Review of New Communitarian Thinking |journal=Quadrant |date=December 1995 |volume=39 |issue=12 |pages=80–82}} | ||
*{{cite book |last1=Tam |first1=Henry |title=Communitarianism: A New Agenda for Politics and Citizenship |date=1998 |publisher=New York University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-8147-8236-1}} | *{{cite book |last1=Tam |first1=Henry |title=Communitarianism: A New Agenda for Politics and Citizenship |date=1998 |publisher=New York University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-8147-8236-1}} | ||
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*{{cite journal |last1=Marks |first1=Jonathan|title=Moral Dialogue in the Thought of Amitai Etzioni |journal=Good Society Journal |date=2005 |volume=14 |issue=1/2 |pages=15–18|doi=10.1353/gso.2005.0034|s2cid=145096193}} | *{{cite journal |last1=Marks |first1=Jonathan|title=Moral Dialogue in the Thought of Amitai Etzioni |journal=Good Society Journal |date=2005 |volume=14 |issue=1/2 |pages=15–18|doi=10.1353/gso.2005.0034|s2cid=145096193}} | ||
*{{cite journal |last1=Boykoff |first1=Jules |title=How Patriotic is the Patriot Act?: Freedom Versus Security in the Age of Terrorism - Amitai Etzioni |journal=Journal of Politics |date=2006 |volume=68 |issue=2 |pages=470–471|doi=10.1111/j.1468-2508.2006.00420_6.x }} | *{{cite journal |last1=Boykoff |first1=Jules |title=How Patriotic is the Patriot Act?: Freedom Versus Security in the Age of Terrorism - Amitai Etzioni |journal=Journal of Politics |date=2006 |volume=68 |issue=2 |pages=470–471|doi=10.1111/j.1468-2508.2006.00420_6.x }} | ||
*{{cite book |last1=McWilliams |first1=Wilson Carey |
*{{cite book |editor-last1=McWilliams |editor-first1=Wilson Carey |title=The Active Society Revisited |date=2006 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |location=Lanham, MD |isbn=978-0-7425-4915-9}} | ||
*{{cite web |title=Euthanasia |url=https://euthanasia.procon.org/view.source.php?sourceID=001059 |website=ProCon.org |access-date= |
*{{cite web |title=Euthanasia |url=https://euthanasia.procon.org/view.source.php?sourceID=001059 |website=ProCon.org |access-date=6 October 2016 |archive-date=9 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170609163530/http://euthanasia.procon.org/view.source.php?sourceID=001059 |url-status=dead }} | ||
*{{cite book |
*{{cite book|editor-last1=Satin|editor-first1=Mark Ivor|title=Radical Middle: The Politics We Need Now|date=2007|publisher=Westview Press|location=Boulder, CO|isbn=978-0-8133-4190-3}} | ||
*{{cite book |last1=Sciulli |first1=David |title=Etzioni's Critical Functionalism: Communitarian Origins and Principles |date=2011 |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden; Boston |isbn=978-90-04-19043-6}} | *{{cite book |last1=Sciulli |first1=David |title=Etzioni's Critical Functionalism: Communitarian Origins and Principles |date=2011 |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden; Boston |isbn=978-90-04-19043-6}} | ||
*{{cite book |last1=Gvosdev |first1=Nikolas |title=Communitarian Foreign Policy: Amitai Etzioni's Vision |date=2016 |publisher=Transaction Publishers |location=New Brunswick, NJ |isbn=978-1-4128-6260-8}} | *{{cite book |last1=Gvosdev |first1=Nikolas |title=Communitarian Foreign Policy: Amitai Etzioni's Vision |date=2016 |publisher=Transaction Publishers |location=New Brunswick, NJ |isbn=978-1-4128-6260-8}} | ||
*{{cite web |last1=Hudson |first1=Kevin |title=The Making of a Peacenik |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhDOYeiAiIA |website=YouTube |date=2018}} | |||
===Books=== | ===Books=== | ||
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*''A Responsive Society: Collected Essays on Guiding Deliberate Social Change''. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. 1991. {{ISBN|978-1-55542-378-0}}. | *''A Responsive Society: Collected Essays on Guiding Deliberate Social Change''. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. 1991. {{ISBN|978-1-55542-378-0}}. | ||
*''The Spirit of Community: Rights, Responsibilities and the Communitarian Agenda''. New York: Crown Publishers, Inc. 1993. {{ISBN|978-0-671-88524-3}}. | *''The Spirit of Community: Rights, Responsibilities and the Communitarian Agenda''. New York: Crown Publishers, Inc. 1993. {{ISBN|978-0-671-88524-3}}. | ||
*''Public Policy in a New Key''. New Brunswick, NJ: |
*''Public Policy in a New Key''. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers. 1993. {{ISBN|978-1-56000-075-4}}. | ||
*''The New Golden Rule: Community and Morality in a Democratic Society''. New York: Basic Books. 1997. {{ISBN|978-0-465-04999-8}}. | *''The New Golden Rule: Community and Morality in a Democratic Society''. New York: Basic Books. 1997. {{ISBN|978-0-465-04999-8}}. | ||
*''Essays in Socio-Economics''. Germany: Springer. 1999. {{ISBN|978-3-540-64466-8}}. | *''Essays in Socio-Economics''. Germany: Springer. 1999. {{ISBN|978-3-540-64466-8}}. | ||
*''The Limits of Privacy''. New York: Basic Books. 1999. {{ISBN|978-0-465-04090-2}}. | *''The Limits of Privacy''. New York: Basic Books. 1999. {{ISBN|978-0-465-04090-2}}. | ||
*''Martin Buber |
*''Martin Buber und die Kommunitarische Idee''. Vienna, Austria: Picus Verlag. 1999. {{ISBN|978-3-85452-372-7}}. | ||
*''The Third Way to a Good Society''. Pamphlet. London: Demos. 2000. | *''The Third Way to a Good Society''. Pamphlet. London: Demos. 2000. {{ISBN|978-1-84180-030-1}}. | ||
*''Next: The Road to the Good Society''. New York: Basic Books. 2001 |
*''Next: The Road to the Good Society''. New York: Basic Books. 2001. | ||
*''Political Unification Revisited: On Building Supranational Communities''. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books. 2001. {{ISBN|978-0-7391-0273-2}}. | *''Political Unification Revisited: On Building Supranational Communities''. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books. 2001. {{ISBN|978-0-7391-0273-2}}. | ||
*''The Monochrome Society''. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 2001. {{ISBN|978-0-691-11457-6}}. | *''The Monochrome Society''. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 2001. {{ISBN|978-0-691-11457-6}}. | ||
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*''Foreign Policy: Thinking Outside the Box''. New York: Routledge. 2016. {{ISBN|978-1-138-67830-9}}. | *''Foreign Policy: Thinking Outside the Box''. New York: Routledge. 2016. {{ISBN|978-1-138-67830-9}}. | ||
*''Avoiding War with China: Two Nations, One World''. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press. 2017. {{ISBN|978-0-8139-4003-8}}. | *''Avoiding War with China: Two Nations, One World''. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press. 2017. {{ISBN|978-0-8139-4003-8}}. | ||
*''Happiness is the Wrong Metric: A Liberal Communitarian Response to Populism''. Washington, DC. Springer. 2018. {{ISBN|978-3-319-69623-2}}. |
*''Happiness is the Wrong Metric: A Liberal Communitarian Response to Populism''. Washington, DC. Springer. 2018. {{ISBN|978-3-319-69623-2}}. | ||
*''Law and Society in a Populist Age: Balancing Individual Rights and the Common Good''. Bristol: Bristol University Press. 2018. {{ISBN|978-1-5292-0025-6}}. | *''Law and Society in a Populist Age: Balancing Individual Rights and the Common Good''. Bristol: Bristol University Press. 2018. {{ISBN|978-1-5292-0025-6}}. | ||
*''Reclaiming Patriotism''. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press. 2019. |
*''Reclaiming Patriotism''. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press. 2019. | ||
Books edited and/or co-authored by Etzioni are not included in this list | Books edited and/or co-authored by Etzioni are not included in this list. | ||
==Awards== | |||
* 1960–1961: Fellowship at the Social Science Research Council | |||
* 1965–1966: Fellowship at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences | |||
* 1968–1969: ] | |||
* 1978–present: Appointment as a Fellow of the ] | |||
* 1987: The Lester F. Ward Distinguished Contributions Award in Applied Sociology | |||
* 1991: The Ninth Annual Jeffrey Pressman Award (Policy Studies Association) | |||
* 2001: John P. McGovern Award in Behavioral Sciences | |||
* 2001: Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany | |||
* Recipient of the Seventh James Wilbur Award for Extraordinary Contributions to the Appreciation and Advancement of Human Values by the Conference on Value Inquiry | |||
* Recipient of the Sociological Practice Association's Outstanding Contribution Award | |||
* 2016: Officially became a member of the ]. | |||
*Honorary degrees from ] (1980); ] (1987); the ] (1991); ] (1994); ] (1994); ] (1997); ] (2004); and the ] (2009). | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||
{{reflist |
{{reflist}} | ||
==External links== | ==External links== | ||
* {{official website|http://www.amitaietzioni.com/}} | * {{official website|http://www.amitaietzioni.com/}} | ||
* | |||
* | |||
* on the Elliot School of International Affairs website | * on the Elliot School of International Affairs website | ||
* {{C-SPAN| |
* {{C-SPAN|21347}} | ||
* | |||
* | |||
* published in ''The Abolitionist Examiner'' | |||
* (on the relevance of Etzioni's contribution to understanding economic growth) | |||
* {{Internet Archive film clip|id=openmind_ep409|description="A Golden Mean . . . Between the Individual and the Community (1991)"}} | |||
* Oxford Foundation for Law, Justice and Society policy brief | |||
* George Washington University Documents | |||
* George Washington University Documents | |||
{{American Sociological Association presidents|state=uncollapsed}} | {{American Sociological Association presidents|state=uncollapsed}} | ||
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Latest revision as of 21:36, 16 December 2024
American sociologist (1929–2023)This article is an autobiography or has been extensively edited by the subject or by someone connected to the subject. It may need editing to conform to Misplaced Pages's neutral point of view policy. There may be relevant discussion on the talk page. (December 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Amitai Etzioni | |
---|---|
אמיתי עציוני | |
Born | Werner Falk (1929-01-04)4 January 1929 Cologne, Rhine Province, Prussia, Germany |
Died | 31 May 2023(2023-05-31) (aged 94) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
Spouses |
|
Children | 5 |
Academic background | |
Education | Hebrew University of Jerusalem (BA, MA) University of California, Berkeley (PhD) |
Doctoral advisor | Seymour Martin Lipset |
Academic work | |
Institutions | George Washington University Harvard Business School Columbia University |
Notable ideas | Socioeconomics, communitarianism |
Part of the Politics series on |
Communitarianism |
---|
Ideas |
Intellectuals |
Related topics |
Politics portal |
Amitai Etzioni (/ˈæmɪtaɪ ˌɛtsiˈoʊni/; né Werner Falk; 4 January 1929 – 31 May 2023) was an Israeli-American sociologist, best known for his work on socioeconomics and communitarianism. He founded the Communitarian Network, a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to supporting the moral, social, and political foundations of society. He established the network to disseminate the movement's ideas. His writings argue for a carefully crafted balance between individual rights and social responsibilities, and between autonomy and order, in social structure. In 2001, he was named among the top 100 American intellectuals, as measured by academic citations, in Richard Posner's book, Public Intellectuals: A Study of Decline.
Etzioni was the Director of the Institute for Communitarian Policy Studies at The George Washington University, where he also served as a professor of International Affairs.
Early life and education
Amitai Etzioni was born Werner Falk in Cologne, Germany in 1929 to a Jewish family. In January 1933, Etzioni was only four years old when the car he was riding in made a sharp turn and, in response, he grabbed a handle that opened the door. Etzioni was pulled back into the car at the last moment by his father, but, as noted in his memoir, My Brother's Keeper, this memory foreshadowed the upcoming doom that would overtake his homeland during the Nazi rule.
Later in 1933, Etzioni and his grandparents were walking through the forest next to Frankfurt when they came upon a forest fire. Suddenly, Hitler Youth ventured into the forest, riding in two trucks. Etzioni's grandparents reacted by grabbing Amitai and rushing down the hill without explaining what happened in this close encounter with the Nazis, which fed into his sense of fear and foreboding.
By the time he turned five, both of his parents had escaped to London, which left Etzioni in the care of his grandparents. Etzioni was smuggled out of Germany soon afterwards, arriving at a train station in Italy with a non-Jewish relative, who soon reunited Etzioni with his parents. Etzioni was stuck with his parents in Athens, Greece for a year, unable to enter Palestine since his family was awarded a bachelor permit instead of a family permit. When the paperwork was finally resolved, Etzioni found himself learning Hebrew in Haifa, Mandatory Palestine in the winter of 1937.
At this time, he began to go by the first name Amitai instead of Werner, since the principal of Etzioni's new school strongly encouraged Etzioni to introduce himself by a Hebrew name. He was given the name Amitai based on the Hebrew word for truth (emet) and the name of Jonah's father in the Tanach (Amittai). Etzioni moved with his family to a small village, Herzliya Gimmel, which served as a base for an emerging community called Kfar Shmaryahu. When Etzioni was eight, he moved to the new village, where his family was assigned to a small, boxlike new house and a small farming lot. In the spring of 1941, Etzioni's father left to join the Jewish Brigade, which was a Jewish unit formed within the British army. Etzioni, at the age of thirteen, was struggling at school, which then caused his mother to send him to a boarding school in Ben Shemen.
In the spring of 1946, at the age of seventeen, Etzioni dropped out of high school to join the Palmach, the elite commando force of the Haganah, the underground army of the Jewish community of Palestine, and was sent to Tel Yosef for military training. When the Palmach learned that the British police had captured a list of the Palmach members, they were issued new, fake ID cards and had to choose new last names. Amitai Falk chose Etzioni, a pen name he had used when he started writing in Ben Shemen at age 15.
During Etzioni's time in the Palmach, it carried out a campaign of blowing up bridges and police stations to drive out the British, who were blocking Jews escaping post-Holocaust Europe from immigrating to Palestine and standing in the way of the establishment of a Jewish state. In contrast to the Irgun, the Palmach largely sought to affect British and global public opinion rather than cause casualties. Etzioni describes his early life and decision to join the Palmach in the video "The Making of a Peacenik". Etzioni's Palmach unit participated in the defense of Jerusalem, which was under siege by the Arab Legion. His unit sneaked through Arab lines to fight to defend Jerusalem and to open a corridor to Tel Aviv, participating in the Battles of Latrun and the establishment of the Burma Road.
Following the war, Etzioni spent a year studying at an institute established by Martin Buber. In 1951, he enrolled in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he completed both BA (1954) and MA (1956) degrees in sociology. In 1957, he went to the United States to study at the University of California, Berkeley, and was a research assistant to Seymour Martin Lipset. He received his PhD in sociology in 1958, completing the degree in the record time of 18 months.
Academic career
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- 1958–1978: Professor, Columbia University
- 1978: Guest Scholar, Brookings Institution
- 1979–1980: Senior Advisor to the White House
- 1980–2010s: University Professor, Professor of International Affairs, and Director of the Institute for Communitarian Policy Studies, The George Washington University
- 1987–1990: Thomas Henry Carroll Ford Foundation Professor, Harvard Business School
- 1989: Founder and President of the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics
- 1993: Founder and Director of the Communitarian Network
- 1994–1995: President, American Sociological Association
Work
Etzioni authored over 30 books. About half are academic, the most important of which is The Active Society, and half written for the public, especially The Spirit of Community. His early academic work focused on organizational theory, resulting in the often-cited A Comparative Analysis of Complex Organizations, published in 1961.
The book was well received in academic circles. A book review in Political Science Quarterly by Peter Fricke called it "a principal text for students of organizations." The book established Etzioni's academic credentials and led to many studies, which Etzioni reviewed and included in a revised edition of the same title, published in 1975. He expressed the same basic ideas in a much shorter book, Modern Organizations, which was translated into a large number of languages.
Much of Etzioni's best-known work is about communitarianism. According to Etzioni, communitarianism is centered on the communal definition of good. It thus stresses the role of community in social and political life and institutions. It rose in response to libertarianism and some forms of contemporary liberalism, both of which are centered on liberty and individual rights. Etzioni contrasts his version of what he calls "liberal communitarianism" with that championed by some East Asian public intellectuals, who extolled social obligations and accorded much less weight to liberty and individual rights.
Liberal communitarianism, as developed by Etzioni, formulated criteria for developing public policies that enable societies to deal with conflicts between the common good and individual rights. These include: (1) no major change in governing public policies and norms is justified unless society encounters serious challenges, (2) limitations on rights can be considered only if there are significant gains to the common good, and (3) adverse side effects that result from policy changes must be treated by introducing strong measures of accountability and oversight. Etzioni worked this out in two of his books, The Limits of Privacy (1999) and The New Normal (2015). Etzioni stresses that preferences are, to a significant extent, socially constructed and hence reflect the values of the communities people are members of. Therefore, one should not treat preferences as unadulterated expressions of individual freedom and should allow for public education to improve these preferences when they turn asocial and surely when they turn anti-social in dogmatic liberal societies.
His main communitarian books are The New Golden Rule (1996), The New Normal (2015), Law and Society in a Populist Age (2018), and How Patriotic is the Patriot Act (2005). His communitarian treatment of privacy is spelled out in The Limits of Privacy (1999) and Privacy in a Cyber Age (2015).
Etzioni's contributions to socioeconomics are found in The Moral Dimension (1988) and Happiness is the Wrong Metric (2018). His main argument is that, in neoclassical economics (the governing form of economics), predictions are poor, the theory about human nature is wrong-headed, and the normative implications are negative. He holds that, rather than assuming that people are seeking to maximize their own utility, one should assume that people are conflicted between (1) their commitments to moral values and the common good and (2) their self-interest. He hence characterized people as "moral wrestlers." He showed that people act mainly as members of social groups, rather than as free-standing agents. Typically, the main issue is not that the government interferes unduly in the market, but that concentrations of economic power in the private sector unduly affect the government and social life.
Etzioni considers The Active Society his most important work. The book was published in 1968. It starts by discussing philosophical questions about the extent to which people have free will and the extent to which human fate is predetermined, beyond our understanding and control. It dives into theories related to steering mechanisms that put people in control of inanimate systems, like factory machines, and then demonstrates that democratic processes must be involved in expanding this type of theory to societies and affecting history. Democracy is crucial, because people must participate in creating the signals to which they will respond.
Later, the book describes the four key parts of a social steering system: decision-making strategies, consensus-building, knowledge, and power. The last part of the book examines human needs and seeks to determine whether they can be altered or whether they remain static. If it is the latter (that human needs are constant), Etzioni looks for ways to guarantee that we restructure society to meet these fixed needs, instead of getting roped into a restructuring scheme that satisfies the needs that society is willing and able to meet, without regard for whether those are the needs that truly need to be met. The Active Society received positive feedback from reviewers, with one reviewer writing that:
I consider this to be one of the most important books in its field in the last twenty years. Apart from its substantive contribution to the strategy of societal activation, it offers a whole focus of immensely valuable perspectives for detailed empirical investigation in the future.
Betty Friedan wrote that The Active Society provided a "philosophical grounding" to her work as a leader of the women's movement. His last book, Reclaiming Patriotism, was published by University of Virginia Press in 2019.
Etzioni was active in the peace movement, the campaign against nuclear weapons, and the protests against the war in Vietnam. This led to two popular books, The Hard Way to Peace (1962) and Winning without War (1964), and, in later years, to From Empire to Community, Security First, Hot Spots, and Foreign Policy: Thinking Outside the Box. He spelled out ways to make China a partner in world order in Avoiding War with China (2017). His main argument in these books is that the world needs a global community and worldwide forms of governance; however, because people are strongly invested in nations, the world is not ready to transition to a global community. Hence, transnational arrangements must continue to be based on national representations. He shows that democracy must be largely homegrown and cannot be introduced by foreign powers through the use of force.
Etzioni has published many scores of academic articles, including law reviews, many of which can be found on SSRN, as well as hundreds of popular articles in the press and online. His papers are deposited with the Library of Congress.
The following books review Etzioni's work: Communitarian Foreign Policy: Amitai Etzioni's Vision, by Nikolas K. Gvosdev; The Active Society Revisited, edited by Wilson Carey McWilliams; Amitai Etzioni zur Einführung, written by Walter Reese-Schafer; and Etzioni's Critical Functionalism Communitarian Origins and Principles, by David Sciulli. See also a short documentary by Kevin Hudson, "The Making of a Peacenik."
In 2019, Etzioni celebrated his 90th birthday at Arena Stage, where he launched, curated, and moderated a series of civil dialogues, bringing together public intellectuals with differing points of view on various topics. The videos of these dialogues, as well as many of Etzioni's appearances on television, can be found on YouTube.
Criticism
In Simon Prideaux's "From Organisational Theory to the New Communitarium of Amitai Etzioni", he argues that Etzioni's communitarian methods are archaic, and based upon earlier functionalist definitions of organizations. This is because his methodology fails to address any possible contradictions within the socioeconomic foundations of society. Prideaux states that Etzioni's vision of a communitarian society is "heavily predicated upon what he sees as having gone wrong with present-day social relations"(Prideaux 70). Also, Etzioni's communitarian analysis uses a methodology which existed before the development of an organizational theory. According to Prideaux, Etzioni has taken the methodological influence of structural-functionalism beyond the realms of its organizational branch and fabricated it into a solution to solve the problems of modern society. Etzioni's arguments on the creation of a new communitarian society are restricted to the strengths and weaknesses he witnesses in the American society in which he has lived since the 1950s. This bias "neglects and denies the importance of differences within communities and among communities in different countries."
Elizabeth Frazer, in The Problems of Communitarian Politics: Unity and Conflict, argues that Etzioni's concept of the "nature of community" is vague and elusive, in regards to the idea that the community is involved with every stage of government policies. She also mentions Etzioni's thought that the community has a moral standing equal to that of the individual when she firmly believes it is just the opposite. Warren Breed's The Self-Guiding Society provides a critical overview of The Active Society. David Sciulli's Etzioni's Critical Functionalism: Communitarian Origins and Principles evaluates Etzioni's "functionalism".
Etzioni was criticized in 2016 for publishing an article titled "Should Israel Flatten Beirut to Destroy Hezbollah's Missiles?" Lebanese journalist and human rights researcher Kareen Chehayeb called it "ludicrous" that a prominent American professor "can just calmly say the solution is to flatten this entire city of 1 million people."
Personal life
After graduating with his PhD, Etzioni then remained in the United States to pursue a career as an academic and public intellectual. He became an American citizen in 1963, shortly after he was elected to the board of Americans for Democratic Action. Etzioni met a fellow student named Chava Horowitz while studying sociology in Israel. They married in 1953. Etzioni and Chava relocated to the United States in 1957. They had two sons together: Ethan (born 1958) and Oren (born 1964). In 1964, Chava and Etzioni divorced and she returned to Israel. In his autobiography, Etzioni wrote that the divorce was one of his "gravest personal failures. We should have found a way."
In 1966, Etzioni married Mexican scholar Minerva Morales. They had three sons: Michael, David, and Benjamin. Morales was raised Catholic, but converted to Judaism, Etzioni's religion. On 20 December 1985, Minerva was killed in a car crash. Etzioni wrote of his considerable grief over her death and that of his son Michael, who died of a heart attack in 2006, leaving behind a pregnant wife and a son. In 1992, Etzioni married Patricia Kellogg.
Etzioni provided a personal account of his work and life in a memoir called My Brother's Keeper. He augmented this account with an essay about losing his public voice called "My Kingdom for a Wave." He revealed his early childhood experiences to be the source of his feelings against war and aggression in a short video, called "The Making of a Peacenik."
Etzioni lived at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C., where he died on 31 May 2023, at the age of 94.
Bibliography
- Coughlin, Richard M. (4 June 2009). "Amitai Etzioni". American Sociological Association. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
- De Carvalho, David (December 1995). "The challenge of community: Review of New Communitarian Thinking". Quadrant. 39 (12): 80–82.
- Tam, Henry (1998). Communitarianism: A New Agenda for Politics and Citizenship. New York: New York University Press. ISBN 978-0-8147-8236-1.
- Frazer, Elizabeth (1999). The Problems of Communitarian Politics: Unity and Conflict. Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-152252-9.
- Jennings, Lane (November 2001). "Who's Afraid of a Moral Society?". Futurist. 35 (6): 52–53.
- Reese-Schäfer, Walter (2001). Amitai Etzioni zur Einführung. Hamburg: Junius Verlag. ISBN 978-3-88506-342-1.
- Prideaux, Simon (2002). "From Organisational Theory to the New Communitarianism of Amitai Etzioni". Canadian Journal of Sociology. 27 (1): 69–81. doi:10.2307/3341413. hdl:1961/1407. JSTOR 3341413.
- Marks, Jonathan (2005). "Moral Dialogue in the Thought of Amitai Etzioni". Good Society Journal. 14 (1/2): 15–18. doi:10.1353/gso.2005.0034. S2CID 145096193.
- Boykoff, Jules (2006). "How Patriotic is the Patriot Act?: Freedom Versus Security in the Age of Terrorism - Amitai Etzioni". Journal of Politics. 68 (2): 470–471. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2508.2006.00420_6.x.
- McWilliams, Wilson Carey, ed. (2006). The Active Society Revisited. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-0-7425-4915-9.
- "Euthanasia". ProCon.org. Archived from the original on 9 June 2017. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
- Satin, Mark Ivor, ed. (2007). Radical Middle: The Politics We Need Now. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. ISBN 978-0-8133-4190-3.
- Sciulli, David (2011). Etzioni's Critical Functionalism: Communitarian Origins and Principles. Leiden; Boston: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-19043-6.
- Gvosdev, Nikolas (2016). Communitarian Foreign Policy: Amitai Etzioni's Vision. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4128-6260-8.
Books
- A Comparative Analysis of Complex Organizations. Glencoe, IL: Free Press. 1961. ISBN 978-0-02-909620-8.
- The Hard Way to Peace: A New Strategy. New York: Collier. 1962.
- Winning without War. Garden City, NY: Doubleday. 1964.
- Modern Organizations. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. 1964. ISBN 978-0-13-596049-3.
- The Moon-Doggle: Domestic and International Implications of the Space Race. Garden City, NY: Doubleday. 1964.
- Political Unification: A Comparative Study of Leaders and Forces. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. 1965.
- Studies in Social Change. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. 1966.
- The Active Society: A Theory of Societal and Political Processes. New York: Free Press. 1968.
- Demonstration Democracy. New York: Gordon & Breach. 1971. ISBN 978-0-02-909580-5.
- Genetic Fix: The Next Technological Revolution. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc. 1973. ISBN 978-1-135-36371-0.
- Social Problems. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. 1976.
- An Immodest Agenda: Rebuilding America Before the 21st Century. New York: McGraw-Hill Co. 1983.
- Capital Corruption: The New Attack on American Democracy. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. 1984. ISBN 978-0-88738-708-1.
- The Moral Dimension: Toward a New Economics. New York: The Free Press. 1988. ISBN 978-0-02-909901-8.
- A Responsive Society: Collected Essays on Guiding Deliberate Social Change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. 1991. ISBN 978-1-55542-378-0.
- The Spirit of Community: Rights, Responsibilities and the Communitarian Agenda. New York: Crown Publishers, Inc. 1993. ISBN 978-0-671-88524-3.
- Public Policy in a New Key. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers. 1993. ISBN 978-1-56000-075-4.
- The New Golden Rule: Community and Morality in a Democratic Society. New York: Basic Books. 1997. ISBN 978-0-465-04999-8.
- Essays in Socio-Economics. Germany: Springer. 1999. ISBN 978-3-540-64466-8.
- The Limits of Privacy. New York: Basic Books. 1999. ISBN 978-0-465-04090-2.
- Martin Buber und die Kommunitarische Idee. Vienna, Austria: Picus Verlag. 1999. ISBN 978-3-85452-372-7.
- The Third Way to a Good Society. Pamphlet. London: Demos. 2000. ISBN 978-1-84180-030-1.
- Next: The Road to the Good Society. New York: Basic Books. 2001.
- Political Unification Revisited: On Building Supranational Communities. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books. 2001. ISBN 978-0-7391-0273-2.
- The Monochrome Society. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 2001. ISBN 978-0-691-11457-6.
- My Brother's Keeper: A Memoir and a Message. Rowman & Littlefield: Lanham, MD. 2003. ISBN 978-0-7425-2158-2.
- From Empire to Community: A New Approach to International Relations. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. 2004. ISBN 978-1-4039-6535-6.
- The Common Good. Cambridge, MA: Polity Press. 2004. ISBN 978-0-7456-3267-4.
- How Patriotic is the Patriot Act?: Freedom Versus Security in the Age of Terrorism. New York: Routledge. 2004. ISBN 978-0-415-95047-3.
- Security First: For a Muscular, Moral Foreign Policy. New Haven: Yale University Press. 2007. ISBN 978-0-300-13804-7.
- New Common Ground: A New America, A New World. Washington, DC: Potomac Publishing, 2009. ISBN 978-1-59797-407-3.
- Law in a New Key: Essays on Law and Society. New Orleans, LA: Quid Pro Quo Books. 2010. ISBN 978-1-61027-044-1.
- Hot Spots: American Foreign Policy in a Post-Human-Rights World. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers. 2012. ISBN 978-1-4128-5546-4.
- The New Normal: Finding a Balance between Individual Rights and the Common Good. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers. 2015. ISBN 978-1-4128-5526-6.
- Privacy in a Cyber Age: Policy and Practice. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. 2015. ISBN 978-1-137-51358-8.
- Foreign Policy: Thinking Outside the Box. New York: Routledge. 2016. ISBN 978-1-138-67830-9.
- Avoiding War with China: Two Nations, One World. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press. 2017. ISBN 978-0-8139-4003-8.
- Happiness is the Wrong Metric: A Liberal Communitarian Response to Populism. Washington, DC. Springer. 2018. ISBN 978-3-319-69623-2.
- Law and Society in a Populist Age: Balancing Individual Rights and the Common Good. Bristol: Bristol University Press. 2018. ISBN 978-1-5292-0025-6.
- Reclaiming Patriotism. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press. 2019.
Books edited and/or co-authored by Etzioni are not included in this list.
Awards
- 1960–1961: Fellowship at the Social Science Research Council
- 1965–1966: Fellowship at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences
- 1968–1969: Guggenheim Fellowship
- 1978–present: Appointment as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
- 1987: The Lester F. Ward Distinguished Contributions Award in Applied Sociology
- 1991: The Ninth Annual Jeffrey Pressman Award (Policy Studies Association)
- 2001: John P. McGovern Award in Behavioral Sciences
- 2001: Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
- Recipient of the Seventh James Wilbur Award for Extraordinary Contributions to the Appreciation and Advancement of Human Values by the Conference on Value Inquiry
- Recipient of the Sociological Practice Association's Outstanding Contribution Award
- 2016: Officially became a member of the National Academy of Medicine.
- Honorary degrees from Rider College (1980); Governors State University (1987); the University of Utah (1991); Colorado College (1994); Connecticut College (1994); Walden University (1997); Franklin Pierce College (2004); and the University of Cologne (2009).
References
- Interview with Amitai Etzioni. BBC World News.
- ^ Etzioni, Amitai (2003). My Brother's Keeper: A Memoir and a Message. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. pp. 3–5. ISBN 978-0-7425-2158-2.
- Etzioni, Amitai. My Brother's Keeper. p. 6.
- דרור, יובל (20 January 2004). "אפילו הישראלים יכולים להתגבר על הקרעים החברתיים, משוכנע נביא הקהילתנות". הארץ.
- Etzioni, Amitai (2 July 2002). "Throw book at terrorists who hide as civilians". USA Today.
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "The Making of a Peacenik". YouTube.
- Etzioni, Amitai. My Brother's Keeper. pp. 28–31.
- Etzioni, Amitai. My Brother's Keeper. p. 51.
- Etzioni, Amitai. My Brother's Keeper. pp. 61–64.
- ^ Etzioni, Amitai. My Brother's Keeper. p. 63.
- Etzioni, Amitai (2000). "Social Norms: Internalization, Persuasion, and History". Law and Society Review. 34 (1): 157–178. doi:10.2307/3115119. JSTOR 3115119. SSRN 1438172.
- Etzioni, Amitai (1997). The New Golden Rule: Community and Morality in a Democratic Society. New York: Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-04999-8.
- Etzioni, Amitai (2015). The New Normal: Finding a Balance between Individual Rights and the Common Good. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4128-5526-6.
- Etzioni, Amitai (2018). Law and Society in a Populist Age: Balancing Individual Rights and the Common Good. Bristol: Bristol University Press. ISBN 978-1-5292-0025-6.
- Etzioni, Amitai (2004). How Patriotic is the Patriot Act?: Freedom Versus Security in the Age of Terrorism. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-95047-3.
- Etzioni, Amitai (2008). The Limits of Privacy. New York: Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-7867-2505-2.
- Etzioni, Amitai (2015). Privacy in a Cyber Age: Policy and Practice. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-137-51358-8.
- Etzioni, Amitai (1988). The Moral Dimension: Toward a New Economics. New York: The Free Press. ISBN 978-0-02-909901-8.
- Etzioni, Amitai (2018). Happiness is the Wrong Metric: A Liberal Communitarian Response to Populism. Washington, DC: Springer. ISBN 978-3-319-69623-2.
- Etzioni, Amitai. My Brother's Keeper. pp. 100–101.
- Etzioni, Amitai. My Brother's Keeper. p. 101.
- Etzioni, Amitai. My Brother's Keeper. p. 102.
- Etzioni, Amitai. My Brother's Keeper. p. 103.
- Etzioni, Amitai (1962). The Hard Way to Peace: A New Strategy. New York: Collier.
- Etzioni, Amitai (1964). Winning without War. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.
- Etzioni, Amitai (2004). From Empire to Community: A New Approach to International Relations. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-415-95047-3.
- Etzioni, Amitai (2007). Security First: For a Muscular, Moral Foreign Policy. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-13804-7.
- Etzioni, Amitai (2012). Hot Spots: American Foreign Policy in a Post-Human-Rights World. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4128-5546-4.
- Etzioni, Amitai (2016). Foreign Policy: Thinking Outside the Box. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-138-67830-9.
- Etzioni, Amitai (2017). Avoiding War with China: Two Nations, One World. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press. ISBN 978-0-8139-4003-8.
- Gvosdev, Nicholas K. (2016). Communitarian Foreign Policy: Amitai Etzioni's Vision. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4128-6260-8.
- McWilliams, Wilson Carey, ed. (2005). The Active Society Revisited. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. ISBN 978-0-7425-4915-9.
- Reese-Schafer, Walter (2001). Amitai Etzioni zur Einführung. Junius Verlag. ISBN 978-3-88506-342-1.
- Sciulli, David (2011). Etzioni's Critical Functionalism: Communitarian Origins and Principles. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-19043-6.
- Prideaux, Simon (2002). "From Organisational Theory to the New Communitarianism of Amitai Etzioni". The Canadian Journal of Sociology. 27 (1): 69–81. doi:10.2307/3341413. hdl:1961/1407. JSTOR 3341413.
- Prideaux, Simon (2002). "From Organisational Theory to the New Communitarium of Amitai Etzioni". Canadian Journal of Sociology. 27 (1): 69–81. doi:10.2307/3341413. hdl:1961/1407. JSTOR 3341413. SocINDEX with full text. EBSCO. web. 13 October 2009.
- Frazer, Elizabeth (1999). The Problems of Communitarian Politics: Unity and Conflict. Oxford University Press. p. 36. ISBN 978-0-19-829563-1.
etzioni.
- Breed, Warren (1971). The Self-Guiding Society. Free Press. ISBN 978-0-02-904650-0.
- Sciulli, David (2011). Etzioni's Critical Functionalism: Communitarian Origins and Principles. Brill Academic Publishers. ISBN 978-90-04-19043-6.
- Ben Norton (19 February 2016). "Prominent American professor proposes that Israel "flatten Beirut" – a 1 million-person city it previously decimated". Salon.com.
- ^ McFadden, Robert D. (1 June 2023). "Amitai Etzioni, 94, Dies; Envisioned a Society Built on the Common Good". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
- Etzioni, Amitai. My Brother's Keeper. p. 44.
- Etzioni, Amitai. My Brother's Keeper. pp. 52, 66.
- Etzioni, Amitai. My Brother's Keeper. p. 77.
- ^ Etzioni, Amitai. My Brother's Keeper. p. 78.
- Etzioni, Amitai. My Brother's Keeper. p. 168.
- Etzioni, Amitai. My Brother's Keeper. p. 170.
- Etzioni, Amitai. My Brother's Keeper. pp. 170–173.and Etzioni, Amitai (7 October 2006). "Coping with the Death of a Loved One". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
- Etzioni, Amitai. My Brother's Keeper.
- Etzioni, Amitai (6 December 2013). "My Kingdom for a Wave". The American Scholar. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
External links
- Official website
- Faculty page on the Elliot School of International Affairs website
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- 1929 births
- 2023 deaths
- 20th-century American Jews
- 20th-century American male writers
- 20th-century American non-fiction writers
- 20th-century American philosophers
- 21st-century American Jews
- 21st-century American male writers
- 21st-century American non-fiction writers
- 21st-century American philosophers
- American male non-fiction writers
- American people of German-Jewish descent
- American political philosophers
- American political writers
- American sociologists
- Columbia University faculty
- Communitarianism
- Elliott School of International Affairs faculty
- George Washington University faculty
- German male non-fiction writers
- German political writers
- Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty of Social Sciences alumni
- Israeli emigrants to the United States
- Jewish American non-fiction writers
- Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Mandatory Palestine
- Jewish German writers
- Jewish sociologists
- Members of the National Academy of Medicine
- Palmach members
- Presidents of the American Sociological Association
- Radical centrist writers
- University of California, Berkeley alumni
- Writers from Washington, D.C.