Norman Birnbaum (July 21, 1926 – January 4, 2019) was an American sociologist. He was an emeritus professor at the

Georgetown University Law Center The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment and ...

, and a member of the editorial board of ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper t ...

''.

Early life

He was educated in New York City's public schools, at

Williams College Williams College is a private liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a colonist from the Province of Massachusetts Bay who was kill ...

, and has a doctorate in sociology from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

. He taught at the

London School of Economics and Political Science The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

, the

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (french: Université de Strasbourg, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. The French university traces its history to the ea ...

, Amherst College, served on the Graduate Faculty of the New School for Social Research and was Distinguished Fulbright Professor at the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in continu ...

. Birnbaum's pedagogical work included the introduction of sociology to the

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-le ...

curricula In education, a curriculum (; : curricula or curriculums) is broadly defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view ...

at Amherst and Oxford. A founding member of the editorial board of ''

New Left Review The ''New Left Review'' is a British bimonthly journal covering world politics, economy, and culture, which was established in 1960. History Background As part of the British "New Left" a number of new journals emerged to carry commentary on m ...

'', was active in politics on both sides of the Atlantic He had been an advisor to American trade unions and members of Congress, as well as to a number of social movements and political parties in Europe. He contributed regularly to a number of publications, including ''

openDemocracy openDemocracy is an independent media platform and news website based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 2001, openDemocracy states that through reporting and analysis of social and political issues, they seek to "challenge power and encourage de ...

'', '' El País'' in Spain, and the German daily '' Die Tageszeitung''. His

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobiog ...

was published in 2018.

Bibliography

Books

* * (With Gertrud Lenzer), ''Sociology and Religion'', 1969. * ''Toward a critical sociology'', 1971 * (Edited) ''Beyond The Crisis'', 1976. * ''Social Structure and The German Reformation'', 1980. * ''The Radical Renewal: The Politics Of Ideas In Modern America'', 1988. * ''Searching For The Light: Essays On Thought And Culture'', 1993. * ''After Progress: American Social Reform And European Socialism In The Twentieth Century'', 2001.

Letters to the editor

References

External links

''The Nation'' profile Memoir, ''From the Bronx to Oxford and Not Quite Back'' ''Dissent'' review of his memoirContributions
to

The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of i ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Birnbaum, Norman American sociologists 20th-century American Jews Jewish sociologists Williams College alumni Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Georgetown University Law Center faculty 1926 births 2019 deaths Fellows of Nuffield College, Oxford Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 21st-century American Jews