Honoring Robert D. Putnam

Please join us as we award political scientist Robert D. Putnam with the Talcott Parsons Prize for distinguished and original contributions to the social sciences. Following the award presentation, Antonia Hernández will join Putnam in a conversation exploring his work on civic connection and what it means for American democracy today.

Putnam is known for his defining work on social capital and for developing the two-level game theory of international conflict resolution. His books Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Italy and Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community are among the most cited and best-selling publications in the social sciences worldwide in the last half century. Read more about his work and impact in the prize announcement. 

First awarded in 1974, the Talcott Parsons Prize was established to honor the noted sociologist and former president of the Academy. Previous recipients of the prize include William David Labov (linguistics), Joan Wallach Scott (history), Daniel Kahneman (psychology), and William Julius Wilson (sociology). A complete list of past recipients is online here. 

This page is for the Cambridge event. If you wish to attend this event virtually, please visit this page.