The monochrome society / Amitai Etzioni.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Etzioni, Amitai, author.

Series:

New Forum Books ; 67

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social values--United States.

Social values.

Social problems--United States.

Social problems.

United States--Social conditions.

United States.

United States--Moral conditions.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (342 pages) : illustrations

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [2001]

Summary:

Amitai Etzioni is one of the most influential social and political thinkers of our day, a man synonymous with the ideas of communitarianism. In this book, Etzioni challenges those who argue that diversity or multiculturalism is about to become the governing American creed. On the surface, America may seem like a fractured mosaic, but the country is in reality far more socially monochromatic and united than most observers have claimed. In the first chapter, Etzioni presents a great deal of evidence that Americans, whites and African Americans, Hispanics and Asian Americans, new immigrants and decedents of the Pilgrims, continue to share the same core of basic American values and aspirations. He goes on to show that we need not merely a civil but also a good society, one that nurtures virtues. He assesses key social institutions that can serve such a society ranging from revived holidays to greater reliance on public shaming. The most effective sources of bonding and of shared ideas about virtue, he insists throughout, come from the community, not from the state. Etzioni also challenges moral relativists who argue that we have no right to "impose" our moral values on other societies. He responds to those who fear that a cohesive community must also be one that is oppressive, authoritarian, and exclusive. And he explores and assesses possible new sources and definitions of community, including computer-mediated communities and stakeholding in corporations. By turns provocative and reassuring, the chapters here cut to the heart of several of our most pressing social and political issues. The book is further evidence of Etzioni's enduring place in contemporary thought.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INTRODUCTION

I The Monochrome Society

II Is Shaming Shameful?

III The Post-Affluent Society

IV Can Virtual Communities Be Real?

V Suffer the Children

VI Holidays: The Neglected Seedbeds of Virtue

VII Salem without Witches

VIII Social Norms: The Rubicon of Social Science

IX Why the Civil Society Is Not Good Enough

X Virtue and the State A Dialogue Between a Communitarian and a Social Conservative

XI Restoring the Moral Voice

XII Cross-Cultural Moral Judgments

XIII Stakeholders versus Shareholders

NOTES

INDEX

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [261]-297) and index.

ISBN:

9780691114576

0691114579

9780691225401

0691225400

OCLC:

1232280886