228:, as noted by both Wesley and Weber, seem to have been important patterns of action contributing to economic progress. Both facilitated the accumulation of capital, so critically important to the economic growth and development of nations." However, Lenski said, asceticism was rare among modern Protestants, and the distinctive Protestant doctrine of "the calling" was largely forgotten. Instead, modern (white) Protestants and Jews had a high degree of "intellectual autonomy" that facilitated scientific and technical advance. By contrast, Lenski pointed out, Catholics developed an intellectual orientation which valued "obedience" to the teachings of their church above intellectual autonomy, which made them less inclined to enter scientific careers. Catholic sociologists had come to the same conclusions.
450:, who had a major influence on sociological thought in the mid-twentieth century, had a very optimistic view of human nature that is reflected in his belief in the inevitability of communism in the future when the governing principle in human societies would be "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need." Lenski viewed the Marxist societies of the 20th century as important, but too often neglected, social experiments that put Marx's view of human nature to the test and found it wanting. His earlier work in the 1950s on
434:
seek to explain the major features of that universe, both its uniformities and its variations. This is undoubtedly a feature of the theory that many sociologists find troubling and unattractive because of the tradition developed in
American sociology in the twentieth century of focusing theory and research on one's own society during a limited time period (i.e., American society in the 20th century) or a handful of societies (e.g., modern industrial societies) during an equally limited span of time.
349:
societies. With the acquisition of signals, and later, symbols, the ancestors of modern humans gained the critically important ability to share information acquired through individual experience. These and other later advances in the technologies of communication and transportation laid the foundations for major developments in political and economic systems, social inequality, science, ideology, and other spheres of life.
263:
and demanded that
Catholics be obedient and faithful to ecclesiastical discipline. In Lenski's opinion, his study showed that these differences between Protestants and Catholics survived to the present day. As a consequence, "none of the predominantly and devoutly Catholic nations in the modern world
433:
An important feature of Lenski's theory has been his emphasis on the need for a broadly inclusive approach in theory building. In a 1988 article, he argued that macrosociological theory should be based on our knowledge of the entire universe of human societies, past as well as present, and should
348:
Members of any given society are united by a shared and partially distinctive culture and networks of social relationships with one another. These ties vary in intensity and distinctiveness depending on the magnitude of the society's store of information and the extent of contacts with other
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to the present. He has viewed the cumulation of information, especially technological information, as the most basic and most powerful factor in the evolution of human societies (though not the only one, as some of his critics have claimed). Lenski has argued that the evolution of cultural
212:. According to Lenski, "the contributions of Protestantism to material progress have been largely unintended by-products of certain distinctive Protestant traits. This was a central point in Weber's theory." Lenski noted that more than a hundred years prior to Weber,
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and other publications This typology is based on a combination of two elements: (1) the kind of environment to which the society must adapt, and (2) its level of technological development. In its most basic form, Lenski identifies seven types of societies:
375:
One feature of Lenski's work that has won fairly wide acceptance among sociologists, as reflected in its incorporation into leading introductory textbooks in the discipline, is his ecological and evolutionary typology of human societies first proposed in
288:- are quite highly industrialized, but none of them are leaders in the technological and scientific fields, nor do they seem likely to become so. Recently some Brazilian Catholic social scientists compared their country's progress with that of the
462:'s official model for analyzing and understanding the realities of social inequality in their societies, while at the same time providing a useful tool for challenging an increasingly unacceptable Communist social order.
173:. He defines religion as "a system of beliefs about the nature of force(s) ultimately shaping man's destiny and the practices associated therewith, shared by the members of a group. A reviewer in
458:
divisions and ethnic tension and discrimination) had received a positive reception among a number of influential
Eastern European sociologists who found it a much more effective tool than the
345:
information is an extension of the evolution of genetic information with the characteristics of human societies being the product of the interaction of both genetic and cultural influences.
478:
1024:
183:
has referred to this volume as "arguably one of a handful of 'classics' among contributions by
American sociologists to the social scientific study of religion."
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and the many biological evolutionists following him, to propose a more contemporary ecological and evolutionary theory of societal development from the
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and the
Catholic church's reaction to it. In Lenski's view, the Reformation encouraged intellectual autonomy among Protestants, in particular
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in the late 20th century) and can be usefully subdivided into more or less advanced (e.g., simple and advanced horticultural societies).
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and concluded that the chief factor responsible for the differential rates of development is the religious heritage of the two nations."
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107:, 1972–73; and IREX Senior Faculty Exchange Fellowships, for Poland, 1978, and Hungary, 1988. He served as Vice President of the
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50:, where he served as chair of the Department of Sociology, 1969–72, and as chair of the Division of Social Sciences, 1976-78.
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These types are often combined in various ways (for example, industrializing horticultural and agrarian societies, such as
119:, 1976. In 2002, he was awarded the Career of Distinguished Scholarship Award by the American Sociological Association.
259:. But after the Reformation, the Catholic church leaders increasingly identified these tendencies with Protestantism and
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devoted an issue of the journal to commentaries on, and appreciations of, his work (vol. 22, no. 2, June, 2004).
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The
Religious Factor : A Sociological Study of Religion's Impact on Politics, Economics, and Family Life
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on the other hand with regard to economics and the sciences. Lenski's findings supported basic hypotheses of
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957:(Status Inconsistency and the Reduction of Social Inequalities) Studia Socjologiczne, 56 (1), pp. 35–46
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In 1958, Lenski's empirical inquiry into "religion's impact on politics, economics, and family life" in the
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His writings have been translated into German, Swedish, Spanish, Polish, and
Chinese (both
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area revealed, among other insights, that there were significant differences between
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Lenski married poet Jean
Cappelmann in 1948. He and Jean Lenski were active in the
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referred to it as "an imaginative and substantial work an indispensable guide."
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893:
Gerhard Lenski (1978). "Marxist
Experiments in Destratification: An Appraisal".
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described the book as a "major achievement" in an often-neglected subfield, and
111:, 1969–70, and was nominee for President in 1972. He was also President of the
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446:. This grew out of his concern for the forces shaping societal development.
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in
England in World War II, and then earned his PhD from Yale in 1950.
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Zmniejszanie Nierownosci Spolecznych a Rozbieznosc Czynnikow Statusu
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The American Catholic Dilemma: An Inquiry into the Intellectual Life
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Another notable feature of Lenski's work has been his interest in
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Lenski's theory has been well received. A former president of the
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479:"Gerhard E. Lenski, 88, Ex-Pastor Of Grace Lutheran Church Here"
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Gerhard Lenski (1988). "Rethinking Macrosociological Theory".
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103:, 1949–50, and later a Senior Faculty Fellowship, 1961–62; a
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Ecological-Evolutionary Theory: Principles and Applications
199:
627:
Robert Wuthnow (2004). "The Religious Factor Revisited".
762:. McGraw-Hill, Paradigm Press, Oxford University Press.
152:. Lenski died in Edmonds, Washington at the age of 91.
970:
Gerhard Lenski's Ecological-Evolutionary Social Theory
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Power and Privilege: A Theory of Social Stratification
364:
as a "masterpiece of comparative social analysis" and
34:
known for contributions to the sociology of religion,
42:. He spent much of his career as a professor at the
30:(August 13, 1924 – December 7, 2015) was an American
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Lenski was awarded a Pre-doctoral Fellowship by the
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University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty
758:Gerhard Lenski; Patrick Nolan; Jean Lenski (1970).
268:industrial nation. Some Catholic nations - such as
760:Human Societies: An Introduction to Macrosociology
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209:The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
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689:American Catholicism and the Intellectual Ideal
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165:Much of Lenski's earliest work dealt with the
940:Birgitta Nedelmann and Piotr Sztomka (eds.),
687:Frank L. Christ and Gerard Sherry (Editors),
927:Gerhard Lenski, Patrick Nolan, Jean Lenski,
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312:, 2006), Lenski built on the foundations of
231:Lenski traced these differences back to the
1000:American military personnel of World War II
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497:"Major Award Recipients Honored in Chicago"
942:Sociology in Europe: In Search of Identity
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608:"The Religious Factor, by Gerhard Lenski"
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944:(Berlin: de Gruyter, 1993), p. 155
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169:and culminated in the publication of
117:American Academy of Arts and Sciences
606:Marshall Sklare (November 1, 1961).
141:. They had four children, including
115:, 1977–78 and elected Fellow of the
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1005:American people of German descent
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501:American Sociological Association
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109:American Sociological Association
774:(in its 12th edition As of 2014)
641:10.1111/j.0735-2751.2004.00212.x
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58:Lenski was born and raised in
40:ecological-evolutionary theory
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216:, one of the founders of the
113:Southern Sociological Society
985:People from Washington, D.C.
860:American Sociological Review
831:American Sociological Review
785:Lenski, Gerhard (May 2005).
523:University of North Carolina
316:laid in the 18th century by
300:In subsequent publications (
194:on the one hand and (white)
88:in 1947, after serving as a
74:Richard Charles Henry Lenski
44:University of North Carolina
7:
931:, 7th ed., 1995, chapter 15
519:"Gerhard Lenski, 1924-2015"
10:
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843:Macionis, John J. (2012).
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562:Lenski, Gerhard (1961).
66:pastor, the grandson of
953:Kazimierz Slomczynski,
789:. Paradigm Publishers.
730:Gerhard Lenski (1966).
264:can be classified as a
1030:Yale University alumni
1020:Theoretical historians
845:Sociology 14th Edition
691:, New York, N.Y., 1961
678:, New York, N.Y., 1958
380:and enhanced later in
143:evolutionary biologist
38:, and introducing the
1010:American sociologists
551:on December 22, 2015.
391:hunters and gatherers
167:sociology of religion
161:Sociology of religion
137:and opponents of the
135:Civil Rights Movement
105:Guggenheim Fellowship
833:, vol. 61, pp. 482–5
715:The Religious Factor
702:The Religious Factor
663:The Religious Factor
594:The Religious Factor
539:(December 7, 2015).
452:status inconsistency
408:Industrial societies
171:The Religious Factor
150:Hubert "Tad" Blalock
84:where he received a
16:American sociologist
827:Power and Privilege
816:, 12th ed., ch. 1-4
629:Sociological Theory
545:Telliamed Revisited
541:"A Life Well Lived"
485:. 11 November 1978.
438:Critique of Marxism
418:Maritime societies.
378:Power and Privilege
370:Sociological Theory
362:Power and Privilege
324:, John Millar, and
314:evolutionary theory
302:Power and Privilege
403:agrarian societies
334:Lewis Henry Morgan
247:, Methodists, and
226:dedication to work
796:978-1-59451-101-1
674:Thomas F. O'Dea,
566:. Doubleday U.S.
499:(Press release).
444:Marxist societies
415:Herding societies
412:Fishing societies
36:social inequality
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1015:Neoevolutionists
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382:Human Societies
366:Ralf Dahrendorf
306:Human Societies
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82:Yale University
62:, the son of a
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825:Reviews of
358:Heinz Eulau
253:Middle Ages
237:Anabaptists
233:Reformation
214:John Wesley
204:Max Weber's
196:Protestants
139:Vietnam War
78:Lois Lenski
68:German-born
48:Chapel Hill
32:sociologist
28:Lenski, Jr.
979:Categories
812:, Part I;
613:Commentary
466:References
222:asceticism
176:Commentary
71:theologian
649:144917602
448:Karl Marx
398:societies
342:Stone Age
278:Argentina
251:. In the
192:Catholics
128:Taiwanese
92:with the
86:BA degree
596:, p. 331
572:61009197
304:, 1966;
245:Pietists
241:Puritans
124:mainland
64:Lutheran
915:2577674
880:2095685
266:leading
257:Erasmus
188:Detroit
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454:(i.e.
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336:, and
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270:France
261:heresy
911:JSTOR
876:JSTOR
645:S2CID
424:Ghana
286:Chile
274:Italy
206:work
24:Gerry
791:ISBN
764:ISBN
736:ISBN
576:OCLC
568:LCCN
426:and
224:and
200:Jews
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