Alain Touraine (born 1925) was a French sociologist. He was best known as the originator of the phrase "post-industrial society" and for his studies and theories of social movements while they were in the process of formation.

Alain Touraine was born in Hermanville, France, on August 3, 1925, the son of a physician, Albert Touraine, and of Odette Cleret. Like most French intellectuals, he was educated at the Ecole Normale Superieure, where he took his agrégation in history in 1950 and also studied philosophy. His perspective was further broadened when in 1952 he went to Harvard and learned everything about Parsonian systems sociology and American research methods. This experience is evident in his studies of industry upon his return to France and in his effort to construct a global systems theory that sets out to avoid the pitfalls of both Marxism and functionalism.

By the time he earned his doctorate in...