ABSTRACT
In mid-January 1967, I received a letter from Raymond Vernon, the acting director of Harvard University’s Center for International Affairs, addressed to me at the Centre de Recherches Sociologiques in the Congo. Talcott Parsons and Seymour Martin Lipset, 1 he wrote, had spoken to him about my “interest in arranging a research appointment at Harvard for a period of two to three years,” and had explored with him the possibility of an appointment at the Center for International Affairs. “From their description of your past work,” he continued, “I am sure that Harvard would be considerably enriched by your presence here. As far as the Center is concerned, the critical test is whether the work that you propose to do bears a relation to the ongoing interest of one of the Center’s faculty members. Accordingly it would be most helpful...if you could elaborate your research plans. Once that is done, I will be able to get a reaction from my colleagues on the possibility of extending an invitation to you to join us for a number of years.” 2
