Bio: (1929-2023) American sociologist. Amitai Etzioni was born in Germany, but he had to flee because of the arrival of the Nazis. He later lived in Israel, where he completed his undergraduate and master's studies, and in 1957 he completed his doctoral studies in sociology at the University of Berkeley. After completing his doctorate, he remained permanently in the United States. Etzioni taught at several universities (Columbia University, Harvard Business School), and was also an adviser to US President Jimmy Carter.

At the beginning of his career, Etzioni studied organizations. According to the form of motivation of individuals to accept organizational authority, Etzioni singled out three types of organizations: utilitarian (in which the motive is personal gain), normative (motive is morals and values), and coercive organizations (motive is avoidance of punishment). Etzioni introduced the concepts of "scope" and "pervasiveness" of organizations. Scope refers to the amount of activity that members of the organization perform together, while pervasiveness refers to the level of sharing common normative values ​​between the members of the organization. He believes that organizations have a huge impact on our lives, as evidenced by his famous statement: "We are born in organizations, educated by organizations, and most of us spend much of our lives working for organizations" (Etzioni, 1975).

In the book Moral Dimension (1988), Etzioni studied the motives of individuals that influence their social behavior. The behavior of individuals is guided by two key types of motives: achieving happiness and fulfilling a moral duty. The relationship between these two motives is changing from society to society, as well as throughout history, so social theory must understand the dynamics of forces that affect these two forms of motivation.

Etzioni is considered the founder and one of the most famous proponents of the ideology of communitarianism, which he began to develop in the early 1990s. He believes that the individual should act and develop within his community. Due to capitalism and excessive individualism, communities are collapsing. Etzioni sees this process as very dangerous because only strong communities can respond to the needs of society efficiently and reflectively. On the other hand, individuals who actively participate in the development of their community become more responsible citizens. Etzioni believes that it is necessary, in cases of a serious emergency and great danger, to limit some constitutionally guaranteed rights, in order to protect the community and individuals, because, according to him, "radical individualism" would jeopardize social responsibility. He also emphasizes the need to increase tolerance and mutual understanding between different communities.

Main works

The Active Society (1968);

The Semi Professions and their Organization: Teachers, Nurses, and Social Workers (1969);

A Comparative Analysis of Complex Organizations: On Power, Involvement, and Their Correlates (1975);

The Moral Dimension: Toward a New Economics (1988);

New Communitarian Thinking: Persons, Virtues, Institutions, and Communities (1995); 

Political Unification Revisited: On Building Supranational Communities (2001);

The Limits Of Privacy (2008);

The New Normal: Finding a Balance between Individual Rights and the Common Good (2014);

Avoiding War with China (2017);

Happiness is the Wrong Metric: A Liberal Communitarian Response to Populism (2018);

Law and Society in a Populist Age: Balancing Individual Rights and the Common Good (2018);

Reclaiming Patriotism (2019).