 | In the first two chapters, Bellah et al.first present some vignettes that they think "represent the ways in which Americans use private and public life to make sense of their lives" (p. 20). They suggest that these individuals are confused about how to define success, freedom,and justice. Why do they think this is the case?
In Chapter 2, they authors introduce some key concepts in this book: utilitarian individualism and expressive individualism. Be sure you are clear about the meaning of these. They can be found in the Glossary, and it would be a good idea to read these several times--as well as the other dozen terms there--as you work your way through the book. They define cultures as "dramatic conversations about things that matter to their participants, and then go on to describe what some of these conversations have been about, in American history, and how they think these have changed, today. On p. 49, reference is made to a seminal work on the "changing American character" in mid-century, David Riesman's The Lonely Crowd. This was one of the most influential books I read as an undergraduate--and it was not even assigned, but urged on me by one of my best teachers. I read it--slowly, painfully--in the Summer between my junior and senior years. It helped to steer me toward the social sciences in graduate school. They were not my undergraduate major. Only later did I realize that what Riesman was doing was not social science--at least, as the graduate school defined it. What I wanted was something more along the lines of Habits of the Heart. |
