Amitai Etzioni, the Israeli-American sociologist who drew wide attention as well as derision by fathering the Communitarian movement, a vision of society in which people care less about their own rights then about one another and the common good, died on May 30 at his home in Washington, D.C. He was 94.

Barely a decade after landing in America, having fled Nazi Germany with his parents, he was writing books, articles and provocative commentaries on the nuclear arms race, European security, the Vietnam War, America’s racial and educational problems, energy and inflation policies, and even popular worries over pornography, student unrest, and topics ranging from sex therapy to Hollywood hoopla.

But of all his pursuits, none hit home with greater force than “communitarianism,” which he named, interpreted and promoted for two decades. Though the idea seemed simple, its implications spread out in all directions. Individual liberty and equality were the foundations, he said, but these depended on the good character of people who willingly embraced the responsibilities of citizenship.

Communitarian ideas have had a modest revival in recent years in some intellectual circles, but Mr. Etzioni expressed concern that the school of thought was being largely ignored. “Despite my confidence that the message I have hammered out would do the world a lot of good,” he said, “no one seems to be listening.”