Critical sociology constituted a minority American tradition from Veblen through Riesman.

Evidence

Lynd, like Thorstein Veblen before him and C. Wright Mills and David Riesman after him, represented a minority tendency in US sociology which was critical of society and which contributed decisively to the public success of sociology. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 378

Categorization

• DEFINE: Names the American critical-sociology lineage running Veblen–Lynd–Mills–Riesman, the domestic counterpart to Frankfurt critical theory.
• XREF: Links to the book’s recurring theme of intellectual lineages and to the Frankfurt School’s American reception.