POWER AND STRUCTURE OF SOCIETY

by James S. Coleman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 25, 1973

However well these four essays were received in lecture form, they do not make a substantial book. Coleman, a sociologist and known for his presiding role in the Coleman Report on Education, informs us at length that our society is divided into two entities, individual people and corporate institutions, or ""corporate actors,"" as he calls them. Moreover, the latter seem to have more power than the former. How can the minnows get some control over the whales, or at least feel better about being minnows? Since socialism is out of bounds, perhaps countervailing power within each corporate unit could be set up, or power could go ""back to"" individuals like owners or parents. Coleman's most concrete suggestions are a public school voucher system; putting children and the disabled to work (an odd sort of democratic reform); and fostering a Rind of commune sprat where people wall locus on ""matters close at hanoi"" rather than large social issues. A stately, not to say pompous, elaboration of the vacuous, the pernicious, or the timely, depending on one's point of view.

Pub Date: Feb. 25, 1973

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Norton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1973

Categories: NONFICTION