NELSON, BENJAMIN

NELSON, BENJAMIN (1911–1977), U.S. sociologist. Born in New York, Nelson graduated in medieval history from Columbia University. He taught at the universities of Chicago and Minnesota and the State University of New York before taking the position of professor of sociology and history in the graduate faculty of the New School for Social Research in 1966. Nelson's chief interest was in the sociological approaches to history and in the sociology of psychoanalysis and the arts. He opposed theoretical and practical "uniformitarianism" in favor of studying varied cultural histories. For Nelson, history comprised not only all the great civilizations described in the historical record but also their interconnections and evolutions since the beginning of civilization itself. His later work emphasized the study of civilizational complexes and encounters, particularly comparisons between China and the West.

Nelson helped found the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion and served as its vice president from 1976. He also was president of the International Society for the Comparative Study of Civilizations from 1971 until his death.

Among his numerous publications are "The Legend of the Divine Surety and the Jewish Money Lender" (1939); The Idea of Usury: From Tribal Brotherhood to Universal Otherhood (1949); and On the Roads to Modernity (1981). He also edited Freud and the Twentieth Century (1958).

add. bibliography:

E.V. Walter (ed.), Civilizations East and West: A Memorial Volume for Benjamin Nelson (1985).

[Werner J. Cahnman /

Ruth Beloff (2^nd ed.)]