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101-556: Jeremy Rifkin (born January 26, 1945) is an American economic and social theorist , writer, public speaker, political advisor , and activist. Rifkin is the author of 23 books about the influence of scientific and technological changes on the economy, the workforce, society, and the environment. His most recent books include The Age of Resilience (2022), The Green New Deal (2019), The Zero Marginal Cost Society (2014), The Third Industrial Revolution (2011), The Empathic Civilization (2010), and The European Dream (2004). Rifkin

202-565: A metadiscourse ... making an explicit appeal to some grand narrative, such as the dialectics of Spirit the hermeneutics of meaning, the emancipation of the rational or working subject, or the creation of wealth." Other theories include: Some known French social thinkers are Claude Henri Saint-Simon , Auguste Comte, Émile Durkheim , and Michel Foucault . British social thought, with thinkers such as Herbert Spencer , addressed questions and ideas relating to political economy and social evolution . The political ideals of John Ruskin were

303-667: A Rewilding Earth . In its review of the book, the  Financial Times  noted that "...The influential US thinker...[argues that] humanity is shifting to an age of resilience that could transform our relationship with the natural world and each other...Rifkin sees a future of sweeping economic and social shifts where productivity gives way to regenerativity and gross domestic product to quality of life indicators. Consumerism, corporate conglomerates and globalisation all wither while “eco-stewardship”, high-tech co-operatives and “glocalisation” flourish. The book will undoubtedly prove beguiling for many readers, even as it infuriates others. It

404-801: A coalition of smart cities and regions toward a Third Industrial Revolution”. Jeremy Rifkin joined Maros Sefcovic , vice president of the European Commission, and Markku Markkula , president of the European Committee of the Regions, in a presentation of the smart city and smart region agenda across the European Union. Jeremy Rifkin is the executive co-producer and star of a feature-length documentary film produced by VICE Media entitled The Third Industrial Revolution: A Radical New Sharing Economy . The film, subtitled in nineteen languages, premiered at

505-560: A concern of only special interest groups, achieved widespread attention in 1978 with the publication of Jeremy Rifkin and Randy Barber's The North Will Rise Again ." The book helped lay the early groundwork for what later would evolve into the principles of environment, society, and governance (ESG) standards in investments. Rifkin's 1980 book, Entropy: A New World View , discusses how the physical concept of entropy applies to nuclear and solar energy, urban decay , military activity, education, agriculture, health, economics, and politics. It

606-492: A distinction between politics and society. The concept of society did not come until the Enlightenment period . The term, société , was probably first used as key concept by Rousseau in discussion of social relations. Prior to the enlightenment, social theory took largely narrative and normative form. It was expressed as stories and fables, and it may be assumed the pre-Socratic philosophers and religious teachers were

707-527: A diverse assortment of film, television, and music industry leaders, with the goal of organizing the Hollywood community for a campaign. Shortly thereafter, two Hollywood environmental organizations, Earth Communications Office (ECO) and the Environmental Media Association , were formed. Also in 1989 Rifkin, with a group of environmentalists, attempted to prevent the launch of a NASA rocket that

808-754: A just society that went beyond his contemporary society of the Warring States . Later on, also in China, Mozi ( circa 470 – circa 390 BCE) recommended a more pragmatic sociology, but ethical at base. In the West, Saint Augustine (354–430) was concerned exclusively with the idea of the just society . St. Augustine describes late Ancient Roman society through a lens of hatred and contempt for what he saw as false Gods , and in reaction theorized City of God . Ancient Greek philosophers, including Aristotle (384–322 BC) and Plato (428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC), did not see

909-518: A key advisor to China's Third Industrial Revolution vision... His new book, The Green New Deal, is essentially an attempt to rouse the United States from its slumber within a collapsing 20th century fossil fuel era." That same year, the European Commission and its president, Ursula von der Leyen , announced the European Green Deal , a plan to make Europe "the first climate neutral continent in

1010-704: A keynote address at the Global Green Summit 2012 on May 10, 2012. The conference was hosted by the Government of the Republic of Korea and the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), in association with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). President Lee Myung-bak of South Korea also gave a speech at the conference and embraced

1111-419: A laudatory address by Sigmar Gabriel , the former Foreign Minister , Vice-Chancellor, Economic Minister, and Environmental Minister of Germany. Jeremy Rifkin and TIR Consulting Group, LLC and partners published a $ 16 trillion, twenty-year America 3.0 Resilient Infrastructure plan, prepared for Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer and first released by Bloomberg on July 29 in an article entitled "Energy Guru

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1212-419: A movement of ideas arising from, but also critical of elements of modernism . The wide range of uses of this term resulted in different elements of modernity are chosen as being continuous. Each of the different uses is rooted in some argument about the nature of knowledge, known in philosophy as epistemology . Individuals who use the term are arguing that either there is something fundamentally different about

1313-412: A new historical period . In the past few decades, in response to postmodern critiques, social theory has begun to stress free will, individual choice, subjective reasoning, and the importance of unpredictable events in place of deterministic necessity . Rational choice theory , symbolic interactionism , false necessity are examples of more recent developments. A view among contemporary sociologists

1414-852: A precursor of social economy ( Unto This Last had a very important impact on Gandhi 's philosophy). Important German philosophers and social thinkers included Immanuel Kant , Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel , Karl Marx , Max Weber , Georg Simmel , Theodor W. Adorno , Max Horkheimer , Herbert Marcuse and Niklas Luhmann . Important Chinese philosophers and social thinkers included Shang Yang , Lao Zi , Confucius , Mencius , Wang Chong, Wang Yangming , Li Zhi , Zhu Xi , Gu Yanwu , Gong Zizhen , Wei Yuan, Kang Youwei , Lu Xun, Mao Zedong , Zhu Ming. Important Italian social scientists include Antonio Gramsci , Gaetano Mosca , Vilfredo Pareto , Franco Ferrarotti. Important Thai social theorists include Jit Phumisak , Kukrit Pramoj , and Prawase Wasi Social theory seeks to question why humans inhabit

1515-416: A priori methods of tradition. Social thought provides general theories to explain actions and behavior of society as a whole, encompassing sociological , political , and philosophical ideas. Classical social theory has generally been presented from a perspective of Western philosophy , and often regarded as Eurocentric . Theory construction , according to The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology,

1616-508: A review of the book in the Huffington Post , Ariana Huffington writes: “Rifkin is that rare breed, one whose disappearance is often and rightly bemoaned: a public intellectual. Rifkin… takes a look at the new scientific discoveries that lead to the conclusion that rather than being naturally aggressive, acquisitive, and self-involved, humans are ‘a fundamentally empathic species’ -- what Rifkin calls Homo empathicus … The Empathic Civilization

1717-479: A significant role in social theory. He revealed the origin of inequality , analyzed the social contract (and social compact) that forms social integration and defined the social sphere or civil society . Jean-Jacques Rousseau also emphasized that man has the liberty to change his world, an assertion that made it possible to program and change society. Adam Smith addressed the question of whether vast inequalities of wealth represented progress. He explained that

1818-561: A small number of possible types of social organization that coexisted or succeeded one another through inescapable developmental tendencies or deep-seated economic organization or psychological constraints. Marxism is the star example. Unger, calling his efforts "super-theory", has thus sought to develop a comprehensive view of history and society. Unger does so without subsuming deep structure analysis under an indivisible and repeatable type of social organization or with recourse to law-like constraints and tendencies. His articulation of such

1919-711: A social structure, which Unger calls formative context . In order to explain how we move from one formative context to another without the conventional social theory constraints of historical necessity (e.g. feudalism to capitalism), and to do so while remaining true to the key insight of individual human empowerment and anti-necessitarian social thought , Unger recognized that there are an infinite number of ways of resisting social and institutional constraints, which can lead to an infinite number of outcomes. This variety of forms of resistance and empowerment make change possible. Unger calls this empowerment negative capability . However, Unger adds that these outcomes are always reliant on

2020-426: A theoretical orientation that sees the world in terms of power and control, one could create a theory about violent human behavior which includes specific causal statements (e.g. being the victim of physical abuse leads to psychological problems). This could lead to a hypothesis (prediction) about what one expects to see in a particular sample, e.g. "a battered child will grow up to be shy or violent". One can then test

2121-482: A theory is in False Necessity: anti-necessitarian social theory in the service of radical democracy, where he uses deep-logic practice to theorize human social activity through anti-necessitarian analysis. Unger begins by formulating the theory of false necessity, which claims that social worlds are the artifact of human endeavors. There is no pre-set institutional arrangement that societies must adhere to, and there

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2222-479: A transition of their business operations into sustainable economies. Rifkin is ranked number 123 in the WorldPost / The Huffington Post 2015 global survey of "The World's Most Influential Voices". He also is listed among the top ten most influential economic thinkers in the survey. Rifkin has lectured before many Fortune 500 companies, and hundreds of governments, civil society organizations, and universities over

2323-425: A variety of environmental, scientific and technology related issues. The Union of Concerned Scientists has cited some of Rifkin's publications as useful references for consumers and The New York Times once stated that "others in the scholarly, religious, and political fields praise Jeremy Rifkin for a willingness to think big, raise controversial questions, and serve as a social and ethical prophet" Rifkin's work

2424-404: Is Beyond Disappointed with Dwindling US Infrastructure Plan". The America 3.0 infrastructure transformation 2022-2042 details a massive investment to scale, deploy, and manage a smart digital zero-emission Third Industrial Revolution infrastructure for a 21st century economy. The plan will create an average of 15 to 22 million net new jobs over the period 2022 to 2042. For every dollar invested, it

2525-649: Is a fascinating book that boldly challenges the conventional view of human nature and seeks to replace that view with a counter-narrative that allows humanity to see itself as an extended family living in a shared and interconnected world.” In 2011, Rifkin published The Third Industrial Revolution; How Lateral Power is Transforming Energy, the Economy, and the World . The book was a New York Times best-seller, and has been translated into 19 languages. By 2014, approximately 500,000 copies were in print in China alone. Rifkin delivered

2626-642: Is a political activist and author. He is the founder and Executive Director of The Democracy Collaborative, as well as chairman of the board of ocean advocacy group Blue Frontier Campaign . He was the Minter Senior Fellow for Social Justice with the Cleveland Foundation from 2010-2014. Howard has been involved with the Evergreen Cooperatives in Cleveland, Ohio, which was based in part on

2727-529: Is also the co-author of the Democracy Collaborative reports The Anchor Dashboard: Aligning Institutional Practice to Meet Low-Income Community Needs and The Anchor Mission: Leveraging the Power of Anchor Institutions to Build Community Wealth . In 2010, Utne Reader magazine named Howard as one of the "25 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World" for his foundation of the Democracy Collaborative. He

2828-530: Is an illusion of the ups and downs of the historical cycles. The classical approach has been criticized by many modern sociologists and theorists; among them Karl Popper , Robert Nisbet , Charles Tilly and Immanuel Wallerstein . The 19th century brought questions involving social order . The French Revolution freed French society of control by the monarchy, with no effective means of maintaining social order until Napoleon came to power. Three great classical theories of social and historical change emerged:

2929-402: Is an important skill for any researcher. Important distinctions: a theoretical orientation (or paradigm ) is a worldview, the lens through which one organizes experience (i.e. thinking of human interaction in terms of power or exchange). A theory is an attempt to explain and predict behavior in particular contexts. A theoretical orientation cannot be proven or disproven; a theory can. Having

3030-436: Is cited as one force which has decentralized modern life, creating a culturally pluralistic and interconnected global society, lacking any single dominant center of political power, communication, or intellectual production. The postmodern view is that inter-subjective knowledge, and not objective knowledge, is the dominant form of discourse . The ubiquity of copies and dissemination alters the relationship between reader and what

3131-615: Is controversial due to a purported lack of scientific rigor in his claims as well as some of the tactics he has used to promote his views. These include claims that the theory of evolution is a product of "19th century industrial capitalism" and frequent use of the strawman fallacy. Referring to Rifkin's 1984 book, Algeny: A New Word--A New World , Stephen Jay Gould stated: Social theorist Social theories are analytical frameworks, or paradigms , that are used to study and interpret social phenomena . A tool used by social scientists , social theories relate to historical debates over

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3232-414: Is instrumental: "Their goal is to promote accurate communication, rigorous testing, high accuracy, and broad applicability. They include the following: absence of contradictions, absence of ambivalence, abstractness, generality, precision, parsimony, and conditionality." Therefore, a social theory consists of well-defined terms, statements, arguments and scope conditions. Confucius (551–479 BCE) envisaged

3333-407: Is no necessary historical mold of development that they will follow. We are free to choose and to create the forms and the paths that our societies will take. However, this does not give license to absolute contingency. Unger finds that there are groups of institutional arrangements that work together to bring about certain institutional forms—liberal democracy, for example. These forms are the basis of

3434-709: Is projected to return $ 2.90 in GDP between 2022 and 2042. The Bloomberg article noted that "For almost two decades the U.S. author and climate activist Jeremy Rifkin has advised governments in Europe and China on how to retool their economies for what he calls a third industrial revolution." Rifkin also provided the economic and environmental commentary in the fifth and final episode of the BBC documentary series A Perfect Planet , starring Sir David Attenborough . In November 2022, Rifkin published  The Age of Resilience: Reimagining Existence on

3535-549: Is rarely different for a writer who has spent decades warning of the need to address environmental problems that the human species caused and is still struggling to fix.” According to The European Energy Review , "Perhaps no other author or thinker has had more influence on the EU's ambitious climate and energy policy than Jeremy Rifkin. In the United States, he has testified before numerous congressional committees and has had success in litigation to ensure responsible government policies on

3636-420: Is read, between observer and the observed, between those who consume and those who produce. Not all people who use the term postmodern or postmodernism see these developments as positive. Users of the term argue that their ideals have arisen as the result of particular economic and social conditions, including " late capitalism ", the growth of broadcast media, and that such conditions have pushed society into

3737-484: Is that there are no great unifying 'laws of history', but rather smaller, more specific, and more complex laws that govern society. Philosopher and politician Roberto Mangabeira Unger recently attempted to revise classical social theory by exploring how things fit together, rather than to provide an all encompassing single explanation of a universal reality. He begins by recognizing the key insight of classical social theory of society as an artifact, and then by discarding

3838-674: Is the principal architect of the "Third Industrial Revolution" long-term economic sustainability plan to address the triple challenge of the global economic crisis, energy security, and climate change. The Third Industrial Revolution (TIR) was formally endorsed by the European Parliament in 2007. The Huffington Post reported from Beijing in October 2015 that "Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has not only read Jeremy Rifkin's book, The Third Industrial Revolution , but taken it to heart", he and his colleagues having incorporated ideas from this book into

3939-402: Is the role of Congress, not this court, to broaden or narrow the reach of patent laws" and further suggested that "the composition [the genetically engineered micro-organism] sought to be patented uniquely implicates matters of public concern". On May 16, 1984, Federal District Judge John J. Sirica issued a ruling halting an experiment that would have involved the "first deliberate release into

4040-627: Is thus considered by many to be the forerunner of sociology. Khaldun's treatise described in Muqaddimah (Introduction to History) , published in 1377, two types of societies: (1) the city or town -dweller and (2) the mobile, nomadic societies. Modernity arose during the Enlightenment period, with the emergence of the world economy and exchange among diverse societies, bringing sweeping changes and new challenges for society. Many French and Scottish intellectuals and philosophers embraced

4141-404: Is used to make distinctions and generalizations among different types of societies, and to analyze modernity as it has emerged in the past few centuries. Social theory, as it is recognized today, emerged in the 20th century as a distinct discipline, and was largely equated with an attitude of critical thinking and the desire for knowledge through a posteriori methods of discovery, rather than

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4242-558: The Bicentennial years." In 1973, Rifkin organized a mass protest against oil companies at the commemoration of the 200th Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party at Boston Harbor. Thousands joined the protest, as activists dumped empty oil barrels into Boston Harbor. The protest came in the wake of the increase in gasoline prices in the fall of 1973, following the OPEC oil embargo. Later, this

4343-773: The European Central Bank hosted a conference on the theme “Into the Future: Europe’s Digital Integrated Market”. Rifkin delivered a keynote address on transforming the European Union into a smart third industrial revolution paradigm. On February 7, 2017, the European Commission and the European Committee of the Regions hosted a conference in Brussels on the theme “Investing in Europe: building

4444-652: The Italy-USA Foundation in 2012. He currently works out of an office in Bethesda, Maryland , a suburb of Washington, D.C. In April 2014, Rifkin published The Zero Marginal Cost Society: The Internet of Things, the Collaborative Commons, and the Eclipse of Capitalism . Fortune called the book, "admirable in its scope... a heartening narrative of what our economic future may hold for the generations to come." The book

4545-623: The Mondragon Cooperatives in the Basque Region of Spain. Characterized in press accounts as "The Cleveland Model," Evergreen is an effort to create green jobs in low-income neighborhoods using the purchasing power of the City's anchor institutions (hospitals, universities, etc.) to create local worker cooperative businesses. Howard has co-authored several books with economist Jeremy Rifkin, including Entropy: A New World View , Voices of

4646-709: The Tribeca Film Festival in 2017, and has been live on YouTube since 2018. As of May 2023, the film had been viewed 8 million times. In September 2019, Rifkin published The Green New Deal: Why the Fossil Fuel Civilization will Collapse by 2028, and the Bold Economic Plan to Save Life on Earth . In its review of the book, Forbes noted that "[Jeremy Rifkin] is a principal architect of the European Union’s long-term economic vision, Smart Europe, and

4747-534: The University of Bordeaux in 1895, he published Rules of the Sociological Method . In 1896, he established the journal L'Année Sociologique . Durkheim's seminal monograph, Suicide (1897), a case study of suicide rates amongst Catholic and Protestant populations, distinguished sociological analysis from psychology or philosophy . The term "postmodernism" was brought into social theory in 1971 by

4848-460: The grand Duchy of Luxembourg to oversee the development of regional master plans to transform each governing jurisdiction into a zero emission Third Industrial Revolution infrastructure and economy. Citizens assemblies were established in each region to work alongside TIR Consulting Group's team to conceptualize and enact far-reaching initiatives to address climate change and "green" their respective economies and societies. On January 31, 2017,

4949-500: The social evolutionism theory (of which Social Darwinism forms a part), the social cycle theory , and the Marxist historical materialism theory. 19th-century classical social theory has been expanded upon to create newer, contemporary social theories such as multilineal theories of evolution ( neoevolutionism , sociobiology , theory of modernization , theory of post-industrial society ) and various strains of Neo-Marxism . In

5050-405: The "father of sociology" and regarded by some as the first philosopher of science, laid the groundwork for positivism – as well as structural functionalism and social evolutionism . Karl Marx rejected Comtean positivism but nevertheless aimed to establish a science of society based on historical materialism , becoming recognised as a founding figure of sociology posthumously. At the turn of

5151-617: The 1980s . The book and subsequent activist engagement by the authors with the American Labor Union movement, the financial community, and civil society organizations helped spawn the era of socially responsible investment of public and union pension funds in America. An article on socially responsible investment in the New York University Review of Law and Social Change noted that "the idea of socially responsible investing, long

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5252-495: The 20th century, the first of German sociologists, including Max Weber and Georg Simmel , developed sociological antipositivism . The field may be broadly recognized as an amalgam of three modes of social scientific thought in particular; Durkheimian sociological positivism and structural functionalism , Marxist historical materialism and conflict theory , and Weberian antipositivism and verstehen critique. Another early modern theorist, Herbert Spencer (1820–1903), coined

5353-622: The American Revolution , and Who Should Play God? . While at The Hunger Project, he and Dana Meadows et al. co-wrote Ending Hunger: An Idea Whose Time has Come . He and the Democracy Collaborative's research director Steve Dubb have collaborated on a number of articles with political economist Gar Alperovitz , most recently "The Cleveland Model," which appeared in The Nation , and "Cleveland's Worker-Owned Boom" in Yes Magazine . Howard

5454-491: The Arab American Theorist Ihab Hassan in his book: The Dismemberment of Orpheus: Toward a Postmodern Literature . In 1979 Jean-François Lyotard wrote a short but influential work The Postmodern Condition: A report on knowledge . Jean Baudrillard , Michel Foucault , and Roland Barthes were influential in the 1970s in developing postmodern theory. Scholars most commonly hold postmodernism to be

5555-634: The Greenhouse World , its "afterword" was written by Georgescu-Roegen. In 1980, the US Supreme Court ruled in favor of granting a patent on the first genetically engineered life form with 5 justices favoring the patent and 4 justices opposed. Jeremy Rifkin's office - The People's Business Commission - provided an amicus curiae brief in support of the US Patent and Trademark Office, arguing that extending patents to genetically-engineered organisms

5656-619: The People's Bicentennial Commission staged a rally on the Capitol Mall as an alternative to the other Bicentennial celebrations. https://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/document/0067/1563322.pdf In 1977, with Ted Howard , he founded the Foundation on Economic Trends (FOET), which is active in both national and international public policy issues related to the environment, the economy, and climate change. FOET examines new trends and their effects on

5757-557: The Redistribution of Power on Earth in 2002. That same year, Mr. Rifkin, who at the time served as an advisor to Romano Prodi , then President of the European Commission , developed a strategic white paper committing the European Union to a multi-billion Euro research and development plan that would transform the EU into a green hydrogen economic paradigm. Mr. Rifkin joined Prodi at a European Union conference in October 2002 to announce "a coordinated long-term plan for Europe to make

5858-536: The Third Industrial Revolution to advance a green economy . In December 2012, Bloomberg Businessweek reported that the newly-elected premier of China, Li Keqiang is a fan of Rifkin and had "told his state scholars to pay close attention" to Rifkin's book, The Third Industrial Revolution: How Lateral Power is Transforming Energy, the Economy, and the World . Rifkin received the America Award of

5959-664: The University of Pennsylvania's General Alumni Association's Award of Merit 1967. Rifkin was an active member of the peace movement . He attended the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University (MA, International Affairs, 1968) where he continued anti-war activities. Later he joined Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA). In 1970, Rifkin founded the People's Bicentennial Commission to provide "revolutionary alternatives for

6060-620: The best economics book of the year. In its review of the book, BusinessWeek noted that "Rifkin makes a compelling case for [the European] vision, which he says is usurping the American Dream as a global ideal … a fascinating study of the differences between the American and European psyches." In 2009 Rifkin published The Empathic Civilization: The Race to Global Consciousness in a World in Crisis . In

6161-465: The biological sciences includes advocacy of animal rights and animal protection around the world. Rifkin's book, The Age of Access , published in 2000, was the first to introduce the concept that society is beginning to move from ownership of property in markets, to access to services in networks, giving rise to the sharing economy . According to the Journal of Consumer Research, "the phenomenon of access

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6262-502: The book, the journal Nature observed that "Rifkin does his best work in drawing attention to the growing inventory of real and potential dangers and the ethical conundrums raised by genetic technologies... At a time when scientific institutions are struggling with the public understanding of science, there is much they can learn from Rifkin's success as a public communicator of scientific and technological trends." In The Biotech Century , Rifkin argues that 'Genetic engineering represents

6363-435: The concerns of social theory into the domain of culture and thus anthropology . A chair and undergraduate program in social theory was established at the University of Melbourne . Social theory at present seems to be gaining acceptance as a classical academic discipline. Adam Ferguson , Montesquieu , and John Millar , among others, were the first to study society as distinct from political institutions and processes. In

6464-546: The core of the country's thirteenth Five-Year Plan . According to EurActiv, "Jeremy Rifkin is an American economist and author whose best-selling Third Industrial Revolution arguably provided the blueprint for Germany's transition to a low-carbon economy , and China's strategic acceptance of climate policy." Rifkin has taught at the Wharton School executive education program at the University of Pennsylvania since 1995, where he instructs CEOs and senior management on making

6565-563: The core of the country's thirteenth Five-Year Plan announced in Beijing on October 29th." The Huffington Post went on to say that "this blueprint for China's future signals the most momentous shift in direction since the death of Mao and the advent of Deng Xiaoping's reform and opening up in 1978." In 2016, TIR Consulting Group, LLC and Rifkin, its president, were commissioned by both the Metropolitan Region of Rotterdam - The Hague (MRDH) and

6666-467: The environment before "giving the testing a green light". The journal Science recorded that the ruling "stunned most observers". In his ruling, Judge Sirica said that Rifkin and his legal counsel "had made a satisfactory showing that they are likely to succeed" in their lawsuit. In the meantime, Science reported that Judge Sirica told NIH "not to approve any more experiments by academic researchers involving release of modified organisms". The court ruling

6767-691: The environment of organisms altered by gene splicing". The court suit was brought by Jeremy Rifkin, the President of the Washington DC–based Foundation on Economic Trends. The plaintiff argued that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) had violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by failing to undergo an assessment of the potential risks and consequences of releasing the genetically engineered organism into

6868-451: The environment, the economy, culture, and society, and it engages in litigation, public education, coalition building, and grassroots organizing activities to advance their goals. Rifkin became one of the first major critics of the nascent biotechnology industry with the 1977 publication of his book, Who Should Play God? In 1978, Jeremy Rifkin and Randy Barber co-authored the book The North Will Rise Again: Pensions, Politics, and Power in

6969-710: The forms from which they spring. The new world is built upon the existing one. The Chicago school developed in the 1920s, through the work of Albion Woodbury Small , W. I. Thomas , Ernest W. Burgess , Robert E. Park , Ellsworth Faris , George Herbert Mead , and other sociologists at the University of Chicago . The Chicago school focused on patterns and arrangement of social phenomenon across time and place , and within context of other social variables. Critical theorists focus on reflective assessment and critique of society and culture in order to reveal and challenge power structures and their relations and influences on social groups. Karl Marx wrote and theorized about

7070-514: The goal of encouraging a 50% reduction in the consumption of beef, arguing that methane emissions from cattle has a warming effect 23 times greater than carbon dioxide. His 1995 book, The End of Work , is credited by some with helping shape the current global debate on automation , technology displacement, corporate downsizing , and the future of jobs. Reporting on the growing controversy over automation and technology displacement in 2011, The Economist pointed out that Rifkin drew attention to

7171-766: The hypothesis by looking to see if it is consistent with data . One might, for instance, review hospital records to find children who were abused, then track them down and administer a personality test to see if they show signs of being violent or shy. The selection of an appropriate (i.e. useful) theoretical orientation within which to develop a potentially helpful theory is the bedrock of social science. Philosophical questions addressed by social thinkers often centered around modernity , including: Other issues relating to modernity that were addressed by social thinkers include social atomization , alienation , loneliness , social disorganization , and secularization . Ted Howard (author) Ted Howard (born 1950, Ohio )

7272-426: The idea of progress and ideas of modernity. The Enlightenment period was marked by the idea that with new discoveries challenging the traditional way of thinking, scientists were required to find new normativity. This process allowed scientific knowledge and society to progress . French thought during this period focused on moral critique and criticisms of the monarchy . These ideas did not draw on ideas of

7373-429: The importance of political economy on society, and focused on the "material conditions" of life. His theories centered around capitalism and its effect on class-struggle between the proletariat and bourgeoisie . Postmodernism was defined by Jean-François Lyotard as "incredulity towards metanarratives " and contrasted that with modern which he described as "any science that legitimates itself with reference to

7474-490: The late 1920s and early 1930s. The Frankfurt Institute for Social Research is a historical example. The Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago followed in the 1940s. In the 1970s, programs in Social and Political Thought were established at Sussex and York . Others followed, with emphases and structures, such as Social Theory and History ( University of California, Davis ). Cultural Studies programs extended

7575-420: The late 19th and early 20th centuries, social theory became closely related to academic sociology , and other related studies such as anthropology , philosophy , and social work branched out into their own disciplines. Subjects like " philosophy of history " and other multi-disciplinary subject matter became part of social theory as taught under sociology. A revival of discussion free of disciplines began in

7676-409: The law-like characteristics forcibly attached to it. Unger argues that classical social theory was born proclaiming that society is made and imagined, and not the expression of an underlying natural order, but at the same time its capacity was checked by the equally prevalent ambition to create law-like explanations of history and social development. The human sciences that developed claimed to identify

7777-614: The meat (en)counter.” That same year, Rifkin and the Foundation on Economic Trends launched the Pure Food Campaign to demand government labeling of all genetically engineered foods. The campaign was spearheaded by more than 1,500 of the nation’s leading chefs. In 1993, Rifkin launched the Beyond Beef Campaign, a coalition of six environmental groups including Greenpeace , Rainforest Action Network , and Public Citizen , with

7878-647: The nineteenth century, the scientific method was introduced into study of society, which was a significant advance leading to development of sociology as a discipline . In the 18th century, the pre-classical period of social theories developed a new form that provides the basic ideas for social theory, such as evolution , philosophy of history , social life and social contract , public and general will , competition in social space, organismic pattern for social description. Montesquieu , in The Spirit of Laws , which established that social elements influence human nature,

7979-511: The past from classical thinkers, nor involved following religious teachings and authority of the monarch . A common factor among the classical theories was the agreement that the history of humanity is pursuing a fixed path. They differed on where that path would lead: social progress , technological progress, decline or even fall. Social cycle theorists were skeptical of the Western achievements and technological progress, but argued that progress

8080-462: The past thirty five years. Rifkin was born in Denver, Colorado , to Vivette Ravel Rifkin and Milton Rifkin, a plastic-bag manufacturer. He grew up on the southwest side of Chicago . He was president of the graduating class of 1967 at the University of Pennsylvania , where he received a bachelor of science degree in economics at the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce. Rifkin was also the recipient of

8181-554: The political cause of renewably generated hydrogen. In the U.S., Rifkin was instrumental in founding the Green Hydrogen Coalition, consisting of 13 environmental and political organizations (including Greenpeace and MoveOn.org ) committed to building a renewable hydrogen-based economy . His 2004 book, The European Dream , was an international bestseller and winner of the 2005 Corine International Book Prize in Germany for

8282-508: The precursors to social theory proper. There is evidence of early Muslim sociology from the 14th century: in Ibn Khaldun 's Muqaddimah (later translated as Prolegomena in Latin ), the introduction to a seven volume analysis of universal history , was the first to advance social philosophy and social science in formulating theories of social cohesion and social conflict . Ibn Khaldun

8383-710: The term " survival of the fittest ". Vilfredo Pareto (1848–1923) and Pitirim A. Sorokin argued that "history goes in cycles," and presented the social cycle theory to illustrate their point. Ferdinand Tönnies (1855–1936) made community and society ( Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft , 1887) the special topics of the new science of "sociology", both of them based on different modes of will of social actors . The 19th century pioneers of social theory and sociology, like Saint-Simon, Comte, Marx, John Stuart Mill or Spencer, never held university posts and they were broadly regarded as philosophers. Emile Durkheim endeavoured to formally established academic sociology, and did so at

8484-405: The transition from fossil-fuel dependency to become the first " hydrogen economy " superpower of the 21st century". President Prodi remarked that the EU hydrogen R&D initiative would be as significant for the future of Europe as the space program was for the U.S. in the 1960s and 1970s. After the publication of The Hydrogen Economy (2002), Rifkin worked both in the U.S. and Europe to advance

8585-547: The transmission of meaning, or that modernism has fundamental flaws in its system of knowledge. The argument for the necessity of the term states that economic and technological conditions of our age have given rise to a decentralized, media-dominated society. These ideas are simulacra , and only inter-referential representations and copies of each other, with no real original, stable or objective source for communication and meaning. Globalization , brought on by innovations in communication, manufacturing and transportation ,

8686-400: The trend back in 1996 with the publication of his book, The End of Work . Then The Economist asked "what happens... when machines are smart enough to become workers? In other words, when capital becomes labor." The Economist noted that "this is what Jeremy Rifkin, a social critic, was driving at in his book, "The End of Work," published in 1996... Mr. Rifkin argued prophetically that society

8787-516: The ultimate tool.' 'With genetic technology we assume control over the hereditary blueprints of life itself. Can any reasonable person believe for a moment that such unprecedented power is without substantial risk?' Some of the changes he highlights are: replication partially replacing reproduction; and 'Genetically customized and mass-produced animal clones could be used as chemical factories to secrete—in their blood and milk—large volumes of inexpensive chemicals and drugs for human use.' Rifkin's work in

8888-580: The validity and reliability of different methodologies (e.g. positivism and antipositivism ), the primacy of either structure or agency , as well as the relationship between contingency and necessity. Social theory in an informal nature, or authorship based outside of academic social and political science, may be referred to as " social criticism " or " social commentary ", or "cultural criticism" and may be associated both with formal cultural and literary scholarship, as well as other non-academic or journalistic forms of writing. Social theory by definition

8989-518: The wealthy often demand convenience , employing numerous others to carry out labor to meet their demands. Smith argued that this allows wealth to be redistributed among inhabitants, and for all to share in progress of society. Smith explained that social forces could regulate the market economy with social objectivity and without need for government intervention. Smith regarded the division of labor as an important factor for economic progress. John Millar suggested that improved status of women

9090-777: The world the way they do, and how that came to be by looking at power relations, social structures, and social norms, while also examining how humans relate to each other and the society they find themselves in, how this has changed over time and in different cultures, and the tools used to measure those things. Social theory looks to interdisciplinarity , combining knowledge from multiple academic disciplines in order to enlighten these complex issues, and can draw on ideas from fields as diverse as anthropology and media studies . Social theory guides scientific inquiry by promoting scientists to think about which topics are suitable for investigation and how they should measure them. Selecting or creating appropriate theory for use in examining an issue

9191-518: The world" by 2050. The European Commission presented a spectrum of proposals, projects, and initiatives under the rubric of "Leading The Third Industrial Revolution", signaling a fundamental transformation of the European economy and society. Rifkin was a recipient of the 13th annual German Sustainability Award in December 2020 for his work on addressing climate change. The award was presented to Mr. Rifkin in

9292-548: Was called "A comprehensive worldview" and "an appropriate successor to... Silent Spring , The Closing Circle , The Limits to Growth , and Small Is Beautiful " by the Minneapolis Tribune . Rifkin's work was heavily influenced by the ideas expressed by Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen in his 1971 book The Entropy Law and the Economic Process . In Rifkin's 1989 revised edition of Entropy:... , entitled Entropy: Into

9393-656: Was called a "Boston Oil Party" by the press. On April 17–18 the group camped out at Concord Bridge, Massachusetts to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Minute Men's 1775 fight with the British which marked the beginning of our independence and according to White House documents, attempted to disrupt an appearance by President Gerald R. Ford where he was to lay a wreath at the Minute Man Statue. https://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/document/0067/7580533.pdf On July 4, 1976,

9494-578: Was credited with beginning the process of regulating the release of genetically engineered organisms into the environment in the United States and around the world. In 1989, Rifkin brought together climate scientists and environmental activists from 35 nations in Washington, D.C., for the first meeting of the Global Greenhouse Network. In the same year, Rifkin did a series of Hollywood lectures on global warming and related environmental issues for

9595-424: Was entering a new phase, one in which fewer and fewer workers would be needed to produce all the goods and services consumed. 'In the years ahead,' he wrote, 'more sophisticated software technologies are going to bring civilization ever closer to a near-workerless world. The process has already begun." His 1998 book, The Biotech Century , addresses issues accompanying the new era of genetic commerce. In its review of

9696-800: Was expected to lift the Galileo space probe , claiming it carried a "very high risk" of explosion and "spraying deadly plutonium " over the territory of the USA. The lawsuit was eventually rejected, and the Galileo mission succeeded. In 1992, Rifkin published the book Beyond Beef . In its review, the Washington Post praised the book for its "fresh thinking and well-reasoned arguments...[and for] combining reliable research with logical conclusions", noting that "[Rifkin] offers enough economic, medical, environmental, and ethical arguments to persuade any open minded person to pass by

9797-477: Was first documented in the popular business press by Rifkin (2000), who primarily examines the business-to-business sector and argues that we are living in an age of access in which property regimes have changed to access regimes characterized by short-term limited use of assets controlled by networks of suppliers." Rifkin published the book The Hydrogen Economy: The Creation of the Worldwide Energy Web and

9898-420: Was important for progress of society. Millar also advocated for abolition of slavery , suggesting that personal liberty makes people more industrious, ambitious, and productive . The first "modern" social theories (known as classical theories) that begin to resemble the analytic social theory of today developed simultaneously with the birth of the science of sociology. Auguste Comte (1798–1857), known as

9999-438: Was not covered by US patent law. Speaking on behalf of the majority opinion, Chief Justice Warren Burger referred to the petitioners' briefs as "the gruesome parade of horribles" and argued that "the relevant distinction was not between living and inanimate things, but between products of nature, whether living or not, and human-made inventions". Speaking for the minority opinion, Justice William Brennan argued that "it

10100-442: Was possibly the first to suggest a universal explanation for history . Montesquieu included changes in mores and manners as part of his explanation of political and historic events. Philosophers, including Jean-Jacques Rousseau , Voltaire , and Denis Diderot , developed new social ideas during the Enlightenment period that were based on reason and methods of scientific inquiry. Jean-Jacques Rousseau in this time played

10201-635: Was translated into fifteen languages. Rifkin was awarded an honorary doctorate from Hasselt University in Belgium in the spring of 2015. Rifkin also received an honorary doctorate from the University of Liege in Belgium in the Fall of 2015. In November 2015, the Huffington Post reported from Beijing that "Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has not only read Jeremy Rifkin's book, The Third Industrial Revolution, and taken it to heart. He and his colleagues have also made it

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