Caritas and Community: Reflections on the Conservative Sociological Art of Robert Nisbet.

Nisbet's conception of sociology practiced as an art form: multivocality, tolerance for uncertainty, wealth of invention, reservation of judgement. Tocqueville as exemplar. Nisbet's own writings evaluated in the light of his best insights. A southern white perspective on the central state, shaped in later years by quest for recognition in a rising conservative movement. Lesson to be gleaned: discernment in the deployment of wit, and cultivation of 'caritas', essential features of sociological writing capable of enduring the test of time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]