A01=David Ekbladh
Activism
Adviser
Age Group_Uncategorized
Age Group_Uncategorized
Agriculture
Aid
Author_David Ekbladh
automatic-update
Capitalism
Career
Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=HBJK
Category=HBLW
Category=JPS
Category=NHK
Colonialism
Communism
Communist state
Competition
COP=United States
Counter-insurgency
Criticism
Decolonization
Delivery_Delivery within 10-20 working days
Developing country
Development aid
Eastern Bloc
Economic development
Economic growth
Economic planning
Employment
Engineering
eq_bestseller
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
Foreign policy
Foreign policy of the United States
George F. Kennan
Globalization
Ideology
Industrial society
Industrialisation
Institution
International development
International organization
International relations
John F. Kennedy
Language_English
Latin America
Liberal democracy
Liberalism
Marshall Plan
Modernity
Modernization theory
Nation-building
Non-governmental organization
PA=Available
Peace Corps
Planned economy
Politics
Price_€20 to €50
PS=Active
Regime
Rhetoric
Rockefeller Foundation
Social engineering (political science)
Social science
softlaunch
South Korea
South Vietnam
Southeast Asia
Soviet Union
Strategic goal (military)
Supporter
Technology
Tennessee Valley Authority
Third World
Totalitarianism
United Nations
United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
United States
United States Agency for International Development
United States Department of State
United States foreign aid
Welfare
World Bank
World Bank Group
World economy
World War II
Product details
- ISBN 9780691152455
- Weight: 595g
- Dimensions: 152 x 235mm
- Publication Date: 28 Aug 2011
- Publisher: Princeton University Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
- Language: English
Secure
checkout
Fast Shipping
Easy returns
The Great American Mission traces how America's global modernization efforts during the twentieth century were a means to remake the world in its own image. David Ekbladh shows that the emerging concept of modernization combined existing development ideas from the Depression. He describes how ambitious New Deal programs like the Tennessee Valley Authority became symbols of American liberalism's ability to marshal the social sciences, state planning, civil society, and technology to produce extensive social and economic change. For proponents, it became a valuable weapon to check the influence of menacing ideologies such as Fascism and Communism. Modernization took on profound geopolitical importance as the United States grappled with these threats. After World War II, modernization remained a means to contain the growing influence of the Soviet Union. Ekbladh demonstrates how U.S.-led nation-building efforts in global hot spots, enlisting an array of nongovernmental groups and international organizations, were a basic part of American strategy in the Cold War. However, a close connection to the Vietnam War and the upheavals of the 1960s would discredit modernization.
The end of the Cold War further obscured modernization's mission, but many of its assumptions regained prominence after September 11 as the United States moved to contain new threats. Using new sources and perspectives, The Great American Mission offers new and challenging interpretations of America's ideological motivations and humanitarian responsibilities abroad.
David Ekbladh is assistant professor of history at Tufts University.
