A01=Charles Lindholm
A01=John A. Hall
Activism
Advocacy group
African Americans
Alien and Sedition Acts
Ambivalence
American civil religion
American Dream
American exceptionalism
American middle class
Americans
Anti-authoritarianism
Author_Charles Lindholm
Author_John A. Hall
Basic Books
Big government
Cambridge University Press
Capitalism
Category=JBCC
Category=JBF
Category=JHM
Category=JP
Civil society
Culture of the United States
Decentralization
Deference
Democracy in America
Distrust
Egalitarianism
Employment
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
Exclusion
Foreign policy
Harvard University Press
Hegemony
Ideology
Individualism
Industrial Workers of the World
Institution
Knights of Labor
Legislation
Modernity
Multiculturalism
Multitude
Orlando Patterson
Oxford University Press
Political alienation
Political party
Political philosophy
Politician
Politics
Populism
Protestantism
Puritans
R.
Racism
Religion
Resentment
Samuel Gompers
Separation of powers
Skepticism
Slavery
Social class
Social movement
Society
Society of the United States
Soviet Union
Strikebreaker
Superiority (short story)
Toleration
Trade union
Un-American
Voluntary association
Voting
War
Warfare
Wealth
Working class
Product details
- ISBN 9780691090115
- Weight: 198g
- Dimensions: 140 x 216mm
- Publication Date: 02 Sep 2001
- Publisher: Princeton University Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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Is the United States a nation of materialistic loners whose politics are dictated by ethnic, racial, religious, or sexual identities? This is what America has become in the eyes of many commentators. Americans seem to fear that their society is breaking apart, but how accurate is this portrayal and how justified is the fear? Introducing a balanced viewpoint into this intense debate, John Hall and Charles Lindholm demonstrate that such alarm is unfounded. Here they explore the institutional structures of American society, emphasizing its ability to accommodate difference and reduce conflict. The culture, too, comes under scrutiny: influenced by Calvinistic beliefs, Americans place faith in the individual but demand high moral commitment to the community. Broad in scope and ambition, this short book draws a realistic portrait of a society that is among the most powerful and stable in the world, yet is perennially shaken by self-doubt. Concern over the cohesiveness of American society, Hall and Lindholm argue, is actually a product of a shared cultural belief in human distinctiveness and equality.
They find that this shared belief paradoxically leads Americans to exaggerated worries about disunity, since they are afraid that disagreements among co-equals will rend apart a fragile community based solely on consensus and caring. While there is little dissent among Americans over essential values, racism still abounds. Here the authors predict that the homogenizing force of economic participation might still be the key to mending the wounds of racial turmoil. By combining history, sociology, and anthropology, the authors cover a wide range of past and recent challenges to the stability of American society: from the history of unions to affirmative action, from McCarthyism to militant distrust of government, from early prejudice toward Irish and Italian immigrants to current treatment of African Americans. Hall and Lindholm do not skirt the internal contradictions and moral tensions of American society but nonetheless recognize the strength and promise of its institutions and culture. Their book is a vivid, sweeping response to the doomsayers in the reassessment of our society.
John A. Hall is Professor of Sociology at McGill University. His recent books include Coercion and Consent and International Orders.
Charles Lindholm is University Professor of Anthropology at Boston University. His recent books are Charisma and The Islamic Middle East: An Historical Anthropology.
