The American sociologist Talcott Parsons was often accused of being an overly abstract, even apolitical thinker, remote in Harvard's ivory tower. Uta Gerhardt dispels this image in her fascinating account of the political nature of Parsons's life and scholarship. Gerhardt depicts Parsons as a champion of American society and democracy. In this respect he followed the lead of his venerable mentor, Max Weber. Parsons's work, Gerhardt argues, was driven by an overriding agenda to develop a sociological understanding and defense of the development of modern democracy.

美国社会学家塔尔科特·帕森斯（Talcott Parsons）经常被指责为一个过于抽象，甚至不关心政治的思想家，远离哈佛的象牙塔。尤塔·葛哈德（Uta Gerhardt）在她对帕森斯的生活和学术的政治性质的迷人描述中消除了这一形象。葛哈德把帕森斯描绘成美国社会和民主的捍卫者。在这方面，他遵循了他尊敬的导师马克斯·韦伯的领导。葛哈德认为，帕森斯的工作是由一项压倒一切的议程推动的，即发展对现代民主发展的社会学理解和辩护。