Diversity and Its Discontents Cultural Conflict and Common Ground in Contemporary American Society / ed. by Neil J. Smelser ...

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Smelser, Neil J.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social values.

Social conditions.

Postmodernism--Social aspects.

Culture conflict.

Cultural pluralism.

Social values--United States.

Postmodernism--Social aspects--United States.

Postmodernism.

Culture conflict--United States.

Cultural pluralism--United States.

United States.

United States--Social conditions--1980-.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (320 p.)

Place of Publication:

Princeton, NJ : Princeton Univ. Press, 1999.

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Never before has the legitimacy of a dominant American culture been so hotly contested as over the past two decades. Familiar terms such as culture wars, multiculturalism, moral majority, and family values all suggest a society fragmented by the issue of cultural diversity. So does any social solidarity exist among Americans? In Diversity and Its Discontents, a group of leading sociologists, political theorists, and social historians seek to answer this question empirically by exploring ideological differences, theoretical disputes, social processes, and institutional change. Together they present a broad yet penetrating look at American life in which cultural conflict has always played a part. Many of the findings reveal that this conflict is no more or less rampant now than in the past, and that the terms of social solidarity in the United States have changed as the society itself has changed. The volume begins with reflections on the sources of the current "culture wars" and goes on to show a number of parallel situations throughout American history--some more profound than today's conflicts. The contributors identify political vicissitudes and social changes in the late twentieth century that have formed the backdrop to the "wars," including changes in immigration, marriage, family structure, urban and residential life, and expression of sexuality. Points of agreement are revealed between the left and the right in their diagnoses of American culture and society, but the essays also show how the claims of both sides have been overdrawn and polarized. The volume concludes that above all, the antagonists of the culture wars have failed to appreciate the powerful cohesive forces in Americans' outlooks and institutions, forces that have, in fact, institutionalized many of the "radical" changes proposed in the 1960s. Diversity and Its Discontents brings sound empirical evidence, theoretical sophistication, and tempered judgment to a cultural episode in American history that has for too long been clouded by ideological rhetoric. In addition to the editors, the contributors are Seyla Benhabib, Jean L. Cohen, Reynolds Farley, Claude S. Fischer, Frank F. Furstenberg, Jr., John Higham, David A. Hollinger, Steven Seidman, Marta Tienda, David Tyack, R. Stephen Warner, Robert Wuthnow, and Viviana A. Zelizer.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

CONTRIBUTORS

PART ONE: INTRODUCTION: SOURCES OF CULTURAL CONFLICT

CHAPTER ONE Introduction: The Ideological Discourse of Cultural Discontent

CHAPTER TWO The Culture of Discontent

PART TWO: HOW MUCH HAS REALLY CHANGED

CHAPTER THREE Cultural Responses to Immigration

CHAPTER FOUR Preserving the Republic by Educating Republicans

CHAPTER FIVE Racial Issues: Recent Trends in Residential Patterns and Intermarriage

CHAPTER SIX Immigration, Opportunity, and Social Cohesion

CHAPTER SEVEN Family Change and Family Diversity

CHAPTER EIGHT Contesting the Moral Boundaries of Eros

PART THREE: SOCIAL CHANGE AND NEW FORMS OF SOCIAL CONNECTION

CHAPTER NINE Multiple Markets: Multiple Cultures

CHAPTER TEN Uncommon Values, Diversity, and Conflict in City Life

CHAPTER ELEVEN Changes in the Civic Role of Religion

PART FOUR: RETHINKING DIVERSITY AND SOCIAL SOLIDARITY

CHAPTER TWELVE National Culture and Communities of Descent

CHAPTER THIRTEEN Does Voluntary Association Make Democracy Work

CHAPTER FOURTEEN Civil Society and the Politics of Identity and Difference in a Global Context

INDEX

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780691228334

0691228337

OCLC:

1241450535