Sorokin as Lifelong Russian Intellectual: The Enactment of an Historically Rooted Sensibility

Prior to his 1922 emigration to Europe and thence to the United States, Pitirim Alexandrovich Sorokin had an exceptional intellectual and political career in Russia and the Soviet Union (Sorokin 1924, 1963a; Johnston 1995; Krotov 2005). Indeed, he was among the early founders of the science of sociology in his native land, where, according to a relatively recent bibliography (Sorokin 2000), he produced 162 Russian-language publications between the ages of 21 and 33. This listing includes not only book reviews and journal articles, but also substantial monographs and a two-volume theoretical treatise. While still a relatively young man, Sorokin had thus gained widespread recognition as a scholar of the first rank. He was also the initial chairperson (from 1919 to 1922) of a fledgling department of sociology at the University of Petrograd (St. Petersburg), an elected member of the national Constituent Assembly and an appointed staff member of the 1917 Provisional Government, the first democratic regime in Russia. This much would have sufficed for an entry in a sociological encyclopedia, and Sorokin’s political career has few parallels in the history of the field, other than the involvement of Emile Durkheim in French educational policy and the participation of Max Weber in creating the Weimar Republic in Germany. Nevertheless sociologists in the United States and most western historians of the field have not yet appreciated the full influence of the formative period, especially from 1905 to 1922. Lacking familiarity with Russian culture of that era and knowing little about the larger Russian socio-historical milieu, its intellectual discourse and collective memory, they have not been able to comprehend Sorokin’s outlook, behavior and professional output in the United States in relation to these earlier contextual factors. This is arguably a fundamental reason why many U.S. sociologists have tended to see Sorokin, especially since 1937, as a marginal figure and to regard his works largely as deviations from accepted social scientific practice. This paper will argue that a more adequate appreciation of Sorokin’s background and early adult life illumines both stylistic features of his works in America and also places into proper perspective several of his substantive foci that did not accord with contemporary “normal science” (Kuhn 1962). In short, despite his overall assimilation into American society and higher education, including his appointment at Harvard University and his election as president of the American Sociological Association, Sorokin should be understood in large measure as a life-long Russian intellectual. His was a Russian-born sensibility and consciousness—indeed a “Russian soul”—so deeply ingrained that it stamped his entire professional career in the United States, including his published researches, his popular sociology and his university teaching.     

Case study for evaluating campus sustainability: nitrogen balance for the University of Minnesota

American ecologists recently began to address the ecology of cities. Concurrently, higher education institutions have developed sustainability education programs and instituted sustainability policies and projects. This paper draws together these two disparate areas by examining the nitrogen (N) budget of the Twin Cities campus of the University of Minnesota. We addressed the question: what were the annual inputs, outputs and internal cycles of N on the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus? We found that 508 Mg N yr-1 were brought into the campus and 494 Mg N yr-1 were emitted from the University of Minnesota campus. The largest N inputs were abiotic fixation (conversion of N₂ to NO_x by combustion) and food for humans and animals. The largest N output was NO_x, followed by wastewater. Our results expand the understanding of the ecology of institutions within an urban area and provide an opportunity for improving urban ecology education and environmental policy at educational institutions.     

Characteristics of U.S. cities with extreme (high or low) crime rates: Results of discriminant analyses of 1960, 1970, and 1980 data

Why do some cities have higher or lower crime rates than others? In this study we attempt to answer this fundamental question by identifying the theoretically motivated structural covariates which differentiate U.S. cities with extreme high and low crime rates. We apply discriminant function analysis across comprehensive samples of all U.S. cities with populations of greater than 25 000 in the periods 1960, 1970, and 1980 and then posit four question: are empirical findings from regression-based studies of city crime rates replicated in discriminant studies with extreme rates? Are the covariates that predict high or low crime rates unique to specific time periods? Which covariates are better able to discriminate high or low rates for specific crimes? And are specific covariates distinguishable in crime rate changes across time periods? Among our general findings, it appears that those cities with extreme high (low) crime rates tend to be the largest (smallest), most (least) economically deprived, and most (least) socially disintegrated. Associations with these latter two characteristics appear to have grown stronger over the past three census periods. The theoretical importance of these and other findings uncovered here are discussed and interpreted through Wilson's (1987) notion of concentration effects and social isolation which may have transformed inner-city areas in recent years.     

Social Support Networks and School Outcomes: The Centrality of the Teacher

This investigation compares school outcomes for students who differ in the extent to which they perceive their parents, friends, and teachers—each alone and in combination—as important sources of social support. Findings indicate that middle and high school students who perceive high supportiveness from all three sources of support, as opposed to none, one, or two, have better attendance; spend more hours studying; avoid problem behavior more; have higher school satisfaction, engagement, and self-efficacy; and obtain better grades. Positive school outcomes are promoted when teacher support is perceived in combination with perceived support from parents and friends. Implications of the results for human service providers are presented.     

The Tanda: A Practice at the Intersection of Mathematics,Culture, and Financial Goals

We present an analysis and discussion of the tanda, a multiperson pooled credit and savings scheme (a rotating credit association or RCA), as described by two informants from Mexican immigrant communities in California. In the tanda, participants contribute regularly to a common fund which is distributed to participants on a rotating basis. We analyze the tanda at multiple levels (as a mathematical, cultural, and distributed practice) and identify points of intersection and conflict. Contrary to many formal or school-based conceptions of mathematics, mathematical work in the context of the tanda is in service of, and intimately tied up with, cultural goals and values. Likewise, cultural means and mathematics are employed to personal ends. We argue that the tanda should be of enduring interest, particularly among educators interested in bringing more authentic, culturally-relevant mathematics into classroom settings, because it so clearly illustrates how mathematical and cultural processes can interact in the context of personal goals, and provides a potentially valuable template for engaging, consequential, and successful mathematics.     

Leadership ambiguity in universities and K–12 schools and the limits of contemporary leadership theory

This paper explores the differences in context, assumptions, and behavior of leaders both in modern American universities and in elementary and high schools. The paper's main section examines the utility of five leadership theories (situational, charismatic, transformational, path–goal, and leader–member exchange [LMX]) in explaining leader behavior in each educational sector. We show that while each theory has some merit, none adequately incorporates the larger internal and external “system” pressures on leaders whose institutions are undergoing changes. The paper concludes with a recommendation for a reformulation of the leadership dilemmas in education that sets the five theories in a broader, systemic conceptual framework.     

Criteria families use to select nursing homes

The study is conducted to determine families' rankings of characteristics they consider most important when selecting a nursing home. Friedman's two-way analysis of variance is used to test for differences in the rankings. In response to a mailed survey, 231 families rank the characteristics in the following order: quality of care, appearance, atmosphere, location, reputation, building safety, quality of food, cost, and activities. Relationships are also found between the rankings and the demographic characteristics: gender, marital status, education, income, number of homes available, patient/respondent relationship, and distance respondent lived from the chosen home.     

From Rags to Riches: Jewish Oligarchs in Russia

SELECTIVE REMINISCENCES

KHRUSHCHEV REMEMBERS. THE LAST TESTAMENT, translated and edited by Strobe Talbott. London, André Deutsch; New York, Little Brown, 1974. xxxi, 602 pp. Illus. Appendix. £4.95; $12.95.

HISTORY OF ZIONISM IN RUSSIA

HA‐TENUAH HA‐TSIYONIT BE‐RUSYA (The Zionist Movement in Russia), by Yitshak Maor. Jerusalem, Ha‐Histadrut ha‐Tsiyonit, 1974. 597 pp.

A CONTRIBUTION TO JEWISH DEMOGRAPHY

STUDIES IN JEWISH DEMOGRAPHY: SURVEY FOR 1969–1971, edited by U. O. Schmelz, P. Glickson and S. J. Gould (Institute of Contemporary Jewry, Hebrew University, Jerusalem; and Institute of Jewish Affairs, London), 1975. 375 pp. N.p.

ANTI‐ZIONISM AND ANTISEMITISM

SOVIET ANTI‐SEMITISM: THE PARIS TRIAL, ed. and with an Introduction by Emanuel Litvinoff, London, Wildwood House, 1974. 120 pp. £3.00.

POLZUCHAYA KONTRREVOLYUTSIYA (Creeping Counterrevolution), by Vladimir Begun, Minsk, Izdatelstvo “Belarus”, 1974. 191 pp. 28 kop.

AN UNSATISFACTORY STUDY

THE SOVIET TREATMENT OF JEWS, by Harry G. Shaffer. New York, Washington, London, Praeger, 1974. 231 pp. £6.50.

FASCISM AND ANTISEMITISM IN THE DANUBE BASIN

THE SHADOW OF THE SWASTIKA. THE RISE OF FASCISM AND ANTI‐SEMITISM IN THE DANUBE BASIN, 1936–1939, by Bela Vago. Farnborough, Saxon House, D. C. Heath, for the Institute of Jewish Affairs, London, 1975. 431 pp. Docs. Maps. Index of Names. Subject Index. Appendix. £6.50.

THE JEWS OF HUNGARY

EVKONYV 1973/74 (Yearbook 1973/74), ed. by Sándor Scheiber. Budapest, Magyar Izraeliták Országos Képviselete, 1974. 382 pp. Illus. 40 Ft.

A PICTURE OF POLISH SOCIETY BETWEEN THE WARS

SPOLECZENSTWO DRUGIEJ RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ 1918–1939 (The Society of Interwar Poland 1918–1939), by Janusz Zarnowski. Warsaw, PWN (State Scientific Publishers), 1973. 435 pp. 40 zl.