Joseph Dorman & Leslie Lenkowsky 
When Ideas Mattered 
A Nathan Glazer Reader

Sociologist Nathan Glazer’s remarkably long and productive career as a New York intellectual spans seven decades from the Great Depression era to the late twentieth century. A voracious intellect with a perpetual sense of curiosity, he defies easy labeling. When Ideas Mattered is a critical volume, but it also contains autobiographical essays Glazer has written over the years to explain the evolution of his own thought.

The book is a sensitive and nuanced examination of a towering intellectual figure on the American scene. It is organized into sections corresponding to Glazer’s wide ranging interests: ethnicity, race, social policy and urbanism, and architecture. He has written on the myth of the American melting pot, the nature of American communism, the perils and importance of affirmative action, and the limits of social policy. Because Glazer’s work has influenced succeeding generations of thinkers and scholars in a number of fields, the editors have included appraisals and assessments by several of these writers written especially for this volume.

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Leslie Lenkowsky is professor of public affairs and philanthropic studies and director for The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. His writings have appeared in Commentary, The Weekly Standard, and The Wall Street Journal among others.