Video: Right Ideas: Robert Nisbet

National Association of Scholars

Robert Nisbet (1913–1996) was an American sociologist, conservative thinker, and the author of dozens of books over the course of his long career, including The Quest for Community: A Study in the Ethics of Order and FreedomThe Sociological Tradition, and Conservatism: Dream and Reality.

Counted among the great 20th century conservatives, Nisbet’s thought was unique and useful to thinkers across the political spectrum. In its obituary of Nisbet, the New York Times noted that "although he was widely hailed as an intellectual mentor of the American right ... the brand of conservatism he espoused was so rarefied and remote from modern political trends that one of his first major works, The Quest for Community, first published in 1953, became something of a cult classic among counterculture radicals."

Joining us to discuss this unique thinker is Brad Birzer, Professor of History and Russell Amos Kirk Chair in American Studies at Hillsdale College; Samuel Goldman, Associate Professor of Political Science at George Washington University and Literary Editor of Modern Age; and Luke C. Sheahan, Assistant Professor of Political Science as Duquesne University and Editor of the University Bookman.

The discussion is moderated by John Sailer, Research Fellow at the National Association of Scholars.


Image: Intercollegiate Studies Institute

  • Share

Most Commented

March 24, 2025

1.

A Reckoning for Higher Education?

Are American colleges and universities finally getting their comeuppance?...

March 31, 2025

2.

Keeping Watch

Columbia's descent into chaos is by its own hand. Actions to right the university must be swift and tough....

January 27, 2025

3.

Exclusive Documents: UC-Boulder Breaks Civil Rights Law to Advance Racial Preferences

New FOIA documents grant a window into how the University of Colorado-Boulder, in the name of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, discriminates on the basis of protected class and upholds a co......

Most Read

May 15, 2015

1.

Where Did We Get the Idea That Only White People Can Be Racist?

A look at the double standard that has arisen regarding racism, illustrated recently by the reaction to a black professor's biased comments on Twitter....

April 15, 2025

2.

Fighting Harvard and the Other Cultural Warlords

The academic bureaucracies and professoriate are so deeply committed to their radical program of replacing American society with their own vision of a new order that we have no real choice b......

October 12, 2010

3.

Ask a Scholar: What is the True Definition of Latino?

What does it mean to be Latino? Are only Latin American people Latino, or does the term apply to anyone whose language derived from Latin?...