Emerson and the defense of equality / Greg Garvey.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Garvey, T. Gregory, 1962- Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 1803-1882--Criticism and interpretation.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 1803-1882--Political and social views.

Equality in literature.

Politics and literature--United States--History--19th century.

Politics and literature.

Genre:

Literary criticism.

Physical Description:

xvi, 259 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Amherst : University of Massachusetts Press, [2025]

Summary:

"During Ralph Waldo Emerson's lifetime, the idea of universal human equality was under intensive assault. Repeatedly-in contexts ranging from slavery, to marriage, to politics and workers' rights-Americans of the time were being told that equality was an obsolete ideal and that the future would belong to those who accepted the hard truth that liberty lies not in egalitarian values but in hierarchies of domination and submission. Greg Garvey's Emerson and the Defense of Equality focuses on Emerson as a real-time defender of equality during the antebellum culture wars. In contrast to studies that treat individual liberty as Emerson's primary concern, Garvey argues that Emerson's works define a broad and sustained defense of equality as the necessary foundation of liberty. When read as part of a debate about equality, Emerson's Nature is a treatise on individuality and the common weal; his anti-slavery speeches and English Traits advance evolutionary theories to rebut polygenesist arguments for white supremacy; the essays "Love" and "Domestic Life" challenge gender spheres and explore equality in marriage, friendship, and citizenship. As Emerson speculates on the future, "Politics" and "The Young American" anticipate a "beneficent socialism" in which human rights will always have priority over property rights. In his career-long effort to defend a threatened ideal, Emerson develops an aspirational vision of society that understands equality to be a fundamental aspect of liberty"-- Provided by publisher.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version Garvey, Thorson Gregory, 1962- Emerson and the defense of equality

ISBN:

9781625348937

1625348932

9781625348944

1625348940

OCLC:

1500447952