Author : Song Nan
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 410 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (881 download)
Book Synopsis An Analysis of the Shift in the Understanding of Liberty in 1930's America by : Song Nan
Download or read book An Analysis of the Shift in the Understanding of Liberty in 1930's America written by Song Nan and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 410 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Liberty has been a predominant concept in both political philosophy and in socio-cultural usage in different parts of the world. However, liberty does not have a universal definition; nor does it hold the same implication in different historical circumstances even in the same culture. Seen in the light of Isaiah Berlin's theoretical distinction of negative/positive liberties, America's liberty before the 1930s tended to be more from a negative sense than from a positive one. The dominant understanding of this concept had mainly focused on individual rights as opposed to the state power and authority with a relative lack of sense of collectivity and communitarianism. However, the 1930s was such an eventful and turbulent decade that it became a turning point in people's understanding of liberty. This dissertation is on the topic of how through the Great Depression and the New Deal in the 1930s a new conception of liberty in America was formulated and how this formulation was demonstrated from a multi-disciplinary perspective. Isaiah Berlin's negative/positive liberty distinction will be applied as the theoretical base and the exploration will be done from aspects such as economic policies, balance of political power, High Court case decisions, and a growth of a national culture. In the economic domain, the old individualist and limited government philosophy gave way to the New Deal. The power of the central government was expanded, and governmental planning and regulation of the economy were strengthened. At the same time, a national welfare system was established. With a changed attitude toward government and morality in the economy, people embraced values such as cooperation, responsibility, regulation, and ethics in the economic operation. The new perception of liberty was also demonstrated in the constitutional revolution that occurred in the 1930s. As liberty was now considered to be less about prevention of government's power abuse and more about taking collective action to combat the economic crisis, the Supreme Court also slowly changed its course. A number of Supreme Court cases are discussed to show this change. From the altered constitutional interpretation, it can be seen that structural protection of liberty yielded to a new perception of it, which supports a powerful and activist-like central government to ensure economic security. The 1930s also saw a conscious pursuit of "non-individualism" in American culture. For the first time, Americans began to systematically discuss the need for a unified culture and system of values. In this decade, the call for "an American Way" gained momentum and became a national priority to many people. There was also a stronger consensus on the part of intellectuals and artists to establish enduring ties with society. The same emphasis on collective action and social responsibility propelled the extension of cultural pluralism, which also occurred in the 1930s.
