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Alvin W. Gouldner And Industrial Sociology At Columbia University, James Chriss

Sociology & Criminology Faculty Publications

Alvin W Gouldner (1920-1980) was a prolific sociologist of the post-World War II era

who spent the early part of his career (the 1950s) in the field of industrial sociology. A

case study of Gouldner's early life and career is useful insofar as it intertwines with the

development of industrial sociology as a distinct subfield within sociology. Through this

analysis we are also better able to understand how and in what ways a burgeoning

organizational studies program developed at Columbia University during the 1940s. This

analysis of the historical and cultural contexts within which Gouldner came to prominence

as an …