Scope and Content Note
The papers of Amitai Werner Etzioni (1929- ) span the years 1918-1985, with the bulk of the items concentrated in the period between 1968 and 1984. The collection focuses on Etzioni's work as a sociologist and educator and consists of five series: General Correspondence , Subject File , Center for Policy Research , Writings , and Miscellany . Included in the papers are correspondence, memoranda, newsletters, newspaper and magazine clippings, printed matter, manuscripts and related material, notes, publicity, proposals, research material, reports, and press releases. Although most of the items in the collection are in English, some notes, manuscript drafts, and miscellaneous material are written in Hebrew.
The largest portion of correspondence is found in the General Correspondence series and primarily chronicles Etzioni's career as director of the Center for Policy Research and as professor at George Washington and Columbia universities. The series also contains correspondence with publishers, government officials, and colleagues concerning professional conferences, research projects, and contemporary sociological issues. Additional subject-related correspondence is located in other series. Practically all of the correspondence in the collection is professional in nature.
The Subject File consists of a large amount of general background material relating to Etzioni's writings and the work of the Center for Policy Research. Major topics include the Vietnam War, the student protest movement of the 1960s, social policy, research and development, energy, health care, crime, politics and government, education, family issues, capitalism, civil rights, mental health, taxation, science and technology, poverty, violence, economics, and voluntarism.
The Center for Policy Research series is divided into two sections. The first section, an administrative file, contains financial papers, memoranda, newsletters, personnel policy files, press releases, publication lists, and miscellaneous material documenting the operation and procedures of the Center during its first fifteen years. The second section, research projects, consists of files of project abstracts, ideas, and lists as well as research proposals and reports reflecting the Center's basic mission of studying contemporary public policy. Individual research projects are arranged in a numerical sequence established by the Center generally reflecting the order in which they were created. Appendix A of the finding aid has been compiled to list the projects alphabetically as well as by the number assigned to each project.
The Writings series is divided into two sections, books and scholarly papers. Etzioni wrote over a dozen major works and hundreds of shorter pieces. Of particular note in the books section are files documenting Capital Corruption, Genetic Fix, Immodest Agenda, Social Problems, and Technological Shortcuts to Social Change. An unpublished work, "After Modern--What?" is also well represented. The scholarly papers section is an omnibus short writings file containing not only articles, essays, editorials, book reviews, letters to the editor, and other brief works, but also research proposals and reports, position papers, speeches, book chapters, outlines, ideas for articles and books, testimonies, and writings by colleagues with whom Etzioni collaborated. The files are arranged in a numerical sequence established by the author and generally reflect the order in which they were created. Of the seven hundred assigned numbers, approximately fifteen percent appears to be unused or assigned to missing files. Appendix B to the register contains an alphabetical list of the known titles in this section and their assigned numbers. The word title, however, is used in a generic sense since the list includes general descriptions, subject categories, and personal names in addition to titles used in published works.
The Miscellany series is arranged in four parts: academic file, biographical material, trips file, and White House advisory position. Etzioni's teaching career at Columbia University is documented in the academic file by classroom material, minutes and notes on the Department of Sociology, files on the Bureau of Applied Social Research, and files on research projects predating the founding of the Center for Policy Research. The section also contains a small amount of material on Etzioni's tenure at George Washington University. Résumés, photographs, an interview, printed matter citing Etzioni, and material from his graduate school days constitute the biographical material. Correspondence and related material in the trips file chronicle his activity as a public speaker and participant at professional conferences over a twenty-year period. The final section contains correspondence and data collected through public opinion polls on a variety of topics during Etzioni's service as a senior White House advisor during the presidency of Jimmy Carter.