Paradox And Society

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Paradox and Society

Author : Louis Schneider
Publisher : Transaction Publishers
ISBN 13 : 9781412830454
Total Pages : 624 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (34 download)

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Book Synopsis Paradox and Society by : Louis Schneider

Download or read book Paradox and Society written by Louis Schneider and published by Transaction Publishers. This book was released on with total page 624 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The writings of Bernard Mandeville mark an important transition between enlightenment, social philosophy, and modern science. Born in Holland in 1670 and educated as a physician, Mandeville spent the greater part of his working life in England, where he died in 1733. In some respects, Mandeville can be compared to Voltaire--Mandeville's junior by twenty-four years. Mandeville had the knack of making controversies volcanic and of arousing heated debate about any topic on which he chose to comment--and he chose to comment on virtually everything. He was especially1 interested in social evolution, morality and society, prostitution and romantic love, crime and its deterrence, and in social aspects of religion. His views on these and countless other topics cohere in his continual fascination with the consequences of social and economic actions that run counter to anticipations and intentions and in the paradoxical or ironic cast that such outcomes often have. In "Paradox and Society, "Louis Schneider is the first to offer a full consideration of Mandeville as a sociologist. Schneider offers an intellectual and characterological portrait of Mandeville, examining his writings and reactions to him over time. Schneider goes on to review Mandeville's theory of human nature, and explores his hotly contested notion of the paradox of private vices and public benefits--that the arousal of desires is a necessary precondition for the stimulation of social and economic development. Social action outside the marketplace, and Mandeville's problematic theory of social evolution, are next considered. The volume ends with an examination of paradox, irony, and satire in society. In this detailed analysis of one of the world's most controversial social critics, Schneider shows us that Mandeville offers a vision of human society that is of enduring significance. He challenges the reader to consider how that vision might operate in today's world.

The Uncontrollability of the World

Author : Hartmut Rosa
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 1509543171
Total Pages : 105 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (95 download)

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Book Synopsis The Uncontrollability of the World by : Hartmut Rosa

Download or read book The Uncontrollability of the World written by Hartmut Rosa and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2020-10-06 with total page 105 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The driving cultural force of that form of life we call ‘modern’ is the desire to make the world controllable. Yet it is only in encountering the uncontrollable that we really experience the world – only then do we feel touched, moved and alive. A world that is fully known, in which everything has been planned and mastered, would be a dead world. Our lives are played out on the border between what we can control and that which lies outside our control. But because we late-modern human beings seek to make the world controllable, we tend to encounter the world as a series of objects that we have to conquer, master or exploit. And precisely because of this, ‘life,’ the experience of feeling alive and truly encountering the world, always seems to elude us. This in turn leads to frustration, anger and even despair, which then manifest themselves in, among other things, acts of impotent political aggression. For Rosa, to encounter the world and achieve resonance with it requires us to be open to that which extends beyond our control. The outcome of this process cannot be predicted, and this is why moments of resonance are always concomitant with moments of uncontrollability. This short book – the sequel to Rosa’s path-breaking work on social acceleration and resonance – will be of great interest students and scholars in sociology and the social sciences and to anyone concerned with the nature of modern social life.

Revolt, Revolution, Critique

Author : Bulent Diken
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1134005636
Total Pages : 244 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (34 download)

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Book Synopsis Revolt, Revolution, Critique by : Bulent Diken

Download or read book Revolt, Revolution, Critique written by Bulent Diken and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012-03-15 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In contemporary society the idea of ‘revolution’ seems to have become obsolete. What is more untimely than the idea of revolution today? At the same time, however, the idea of radical change no longer refers to exceptional circumstances but has become normalized as part of daily life. Ours is a ‘culture’ of permanent revolution in which constant systemic disembedding demands a meta-stable subjectivity in continuous transformation. In this sense, the idea of revolution is painfully timely. This paradoxical coincidence, the simultaneous absence and presence of the desire for radical change in contemporary society, is the point of departure for the symptomatic reading this book offers. The book addresses the social, political and cultural significance of revolt and revolution in three dimensions. First, it analyzes revolt and revolution as ‘events’ which are of history but not reducible to it. Second, it elaborates on theories that grant revolt and revolution a central place in their structure. Thirdly, it discusses revolutionary or emancipatory theories that seek to participate in radical change. Further, since both revolt and revolution involve the critique of what exists, of actual reality, the implications of the intimate relationship between revolt, revolution and critique are explicated.

An Amish Paradox

Author : Charles E. Hurst
Publisher : JHU Press
ISBN 13 : 0801897904
Total Pages : 377 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (18 download)

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Book Synopsis An Amish Paradox by : Charles E. Hurst

Download or read book An Amish Paradox written by Charles E. Hurst and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2010-04-05 with total page 377 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner, 2011 Dale Brown Book Award for Outstanding Scholarship in Anabaptist and Pietist Studies. Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College Holmes County, Ohio, is home to the largest and most diverse Amish community in the world. Yet, surprisingly, it remains relatively unknown compared to its famous cousin in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Charles E. Hurst and David L. McConnell conducted seven years of fieldwork, including interviews with over 200 residents, to understand the dynamism that drives social change and schism within the settlement, where Amish enterprises and nonfarming employment have prospered. The authors contend that the Holmes County Amish are experiencing an unprecedented and complex process of change as their increasing entanglement with the non-Amish market causes them to rethink their religious convictions, family practices, educational choices, occupational shifts, and health care options. The authors challenge the popular image of the Amish as a homogeneous, static, insulated society, showing how the Amish balance tensions between individual needs and community values. They find that self-made millionaires work alongside struggling dairy farmers; successful female entrepreneurs live next door to stay-at-home mothers; and teenagers both embrace and reject the coming-of-age ritual, rumspringa. An Amish Paradox captures the complexity and creativity of the Holmes County Amish, dispelling the image of the Amish as a vestige of a bygone era and showing how they reinterpret tradition as modernity encroaches on their distinct way of life.

Food and Society

Author : Amy E. Guptill
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 0745663907
Total Pages : 357 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (456 download)

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Book Synopsis Food and Society by : Amy E. Guptill

Download or read book Food and Society written by Amy E. Guptill and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2013-04-03 with total page 357 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This timely and engaging text offers students a social perspective on food, food practices, and the modern food system. It engages readers’ curiosity by highlighting several paradoxes: how food is both mundane and sacred, reveals both distinction and conformity, and, in the contemporary global era, comes from everywhere but nowhere in particular. With a social constructionist framework, the book provides an empirically rich, multi-faceted, and coherent introduction to this fascinating field. Each chapter begins with a vivid case study, proceeds through a rich discussion of research insights, and ends with discussion questions and suggested resources. Chapter topics include food’s role in socialization, identity, work, health and social change, as well as food marketing and the changing global food system. In synthesizing insights from diverse fields of social inquiry, the book addresses issues of culture, structure, and social inequality throughout. Written in a lively style, this book will be both accessible and revealing to beginning and intermediate students alike.

The Open Society Paradox

Author : Dennis Bailey
Publisher : Potomac Books, Inc.
ISBN 13 : 1574889168
Total Pages : 241 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (748 download)

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Book Synopsis The Open Society Paradox by : Dennis Bailey

Download or read book The Open Society Paradox written by Dennis Bailey and published by Potomac Books, Inc.. This book was released on 2004 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How do we protect an open society from those who would use its freedom against us?

Parallels & Paradoxes

Author : Daniel Barenboim
Publisher : A&C Black
ISBN 13 : 1408846241
Total Pages : 184 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (88 download)

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Book Synopsis Parallels & Paradoxes by : Daniel Barenboim

Download or read book Parallels & Paradoxes written by Daniel Barenboim and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2014-07-08 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ______________ 'A beautifully poised series of dialogues about literature, music and politics, and they're a testimony to the enormous gifts and courage of both men' - Tom Paulin, Guardian 'A marvellous eavesdrop on the discourse of exchange between two great intellects' - Nadine Gordimer, TLS 'An extraordinary meeting of minds in troubled times' - Financial Times 'A fascinating exchange of ideas on music, politics and literature' - Classic FM Magazine ______________ Israeli Daniel Barenboim, one of the finest musicians of our times, and Palestinian Edward Said, eminent literary critic and leading expert on the Middle East, were close friends for years. Parallels and Paradoxes is a series of discussions between the two friends about music, politics, literature and society. Barenboim and Said talk about, among other subjects, the differences between writing prose and music; the compromising politician versus the uncompromising artist; Beethoven as the ultimate sonata composer, Wagner (Barenboim is considered by many to be the greatest living conductor of his work); great teachers; and the power of culture to transcend national differences. Illuminating and deeply moving, Parallels and Paradoxes is an affectionate and impassioned exchange of ideas.

Compassion

Author : Jeroen Boomgaard
Publisher : Making Public
ISBN 13 : 9789492095299
Total Pages : 157 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (952 download)

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Book Synopsis Compassion by : Jeroen Boomgaard

Download or read book Compassion written by Jeroen Boomgaard and published by Making Public. This book was released on 2017 with total page 157 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Compassion, A Paradox in Art and Society', is developed in close collaboration with artist Rini Hurkmans, initiator of the conceptual art work 'the Flag of Compassion'. The book aims to show what space an artwork can occupy in the public domain, and in a network of philosophical notions, art theory, societal institutions, collective identity formation and individual experience. Through its hybrid character it wants to form a case study for a new form of art analysis. Simultaneously, it deals with the social effectivity of art and questions how art nowadays can be relevant on a social and political level.

The Paradoxes of Integration

Author : J. Eric Oliver
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 0226626644
Total Pages : 209 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (266 download)

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Book Synopsis The Paradoxes of Integration by : J. Eric Oliver

Download or read book The Paradoxes of Integration written by J. Eric Oliver and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2010-05-15 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The United States is rapidly changing from a country monochromatically divided between black and white into a multiethnic society. The Paradoxes of Integration helps us to understand America’s racial future by revealing the complex relationships among integration, racial attitudes, and neighborhood life. J. Eric Oliver demonstrates that the effects of integration differ tremendously, depending on which geographical level one is examining. Living among people of other races in a larger metropolitan area corresponds with greater racial intolerance, particularly for America’s white majority. But when whites, blacks, Latinos, and Asian Americans actually live in integrated neighborhoods, they feel less racial resentment. Paradoxically, this racial tolerance is usually also accompanied by feeling less connected to their community; it is no longer "theirs." Basing its findings on our most advanced means of gauging the impact of social environments on racial attitudes, The Paradoxes of Integration sensitively explores the benefits and at times, heavily borne, costs of integration.

The Paradox of Choice

Author : Barry Schwartz
Publisher : Harper Collins
ISBN 13 : 0061748994
Total Pages : 308 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (617 download)

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Book Synopsis The Paradox of Choice by : Barry Schwartz

Download or read book The Paradox of Choice written by Barry Schwartz and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2009-10-13 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Whether we're buying a pair of jeans, ordering a cup of coffee, selecting a long-distance carrier, applying to college, choosing a doctor, or setting up a 401(k), everyday decisions—both big and small—have become increasingly complex due to the overwhelming abundance of choice with which we are presented. As Americans, we assume that more choice means better options and greater satisfaction. But beware of excessive choice: choice overload can make you question the decisions you make before you even make them, it can set you up for unrealistically high expectations, and it can make you blame yourself for any and all failures. In the long run, this can lead to decision-making paralysis, anxiety, and perpetual stress. And, in a culture that tells us that there is no excuse for falling short of perfection when your options are limitless, too much choice can lead to clinical depression. In The Paradox of Choice, Barry Schwartz explains at what point choice—the hallmark of individual freedom and self-determination that we so cherish—becomes detrimental to our psychological and emotional well-being. In accessible, engaging, and anecdotal prose, Schwartz shows how the dramatic explosion in choice—from the mundane to the profound challenges of balancing career, family, and individual needs—has paradoxically become a problem instead of a solution. Schwartz also shows how our obsession with choice encourages us to seek that which makes us feel worse. By synthesizing current research in the social sciences, Schwartz makes the counter intuitive case that eliminating choices can greatly reduce the stress, anxiety, and busyness of our lives. He offers eleven practical steps on how to limit choices to a manageable number, have the discipline to focus on those that are important and ignore the rest, and ultimately derive greater satisfaction from the choices you have to make.

Paradox and Society

Author : LOUIS. SCHNEIDER
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 9781138512955
Total Pages : 310 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (129 download)

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Book Synopsis Paradox and Society by : LOUIS. SCHNEIDER

Download or read book Paradox and Society written by LOUIS. SCHNEIDER and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-12-18 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The writings of Bernard Mandeville mark an important transition between enlightenment, social philosophy, and modern science. Born in Holland in 1670 and educated as a physician, Mandeville spent the greater part of his working life in England, where he died in 1733. In some respects, Mandeville can be compared to Voltaire - Mandeville's junior by twenty-four years.Mandeville had the knack of making controversies volcanic and of arousing heated debate about any topic on which he chose to comment - and he chose to comment on virtually everything. He was especially1 interested in social evolution, morality and society, prostitution and romantic love, crime and its deterrence, and in social aspects of religion. His views on these and countless other topics cohere in his continual fascination with the consequences of social and economic actions that run counter to anticipations and intentions and in the paradoxical or ironic cast that such outcomes often have. In Paradox and Society, Louis Schneider is the first to offer a full consideration of Mandeville as a sociologist.Schneider offers an intellectual and characterological portrait of Mandeville, examining his writings and reactions to him over time. Schneider goes on to review Mandeville's theory of human nature, and explores his hotly contested notion of the paradox of private vices and public benefits - that the arousal of desires is a necessary precondition for the stimulation of social and economic development.Social action outside the marketplace, and Mandeville's problematic theory of social evolution, are next considered. The volume ends with an examination of paradox, irony, and satire in society. In this detailed analysis of one of the world's most controversial social critics, Schneider shows us that Mandeville offers a vision of human society that is of enduring significance. He challenges the reader to consider how that vision might operate in today's world.

Revolt, Revolution, Critique

Author : Bulent Diken
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1134005644
Total Pages : 210 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (34 download)

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Book Synopsis Revolt, Revolution, Critique by : Bulent Diken

Download or read book Revolt, Revolution, Critique written by Bulent Diken and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012-03-15 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In contemporary society the idea of ‘revolution’ seems to have become obsolete. What is more untimely than the idea of revolution today? At the same time, however, the idea of radical change no longer refers to exceptional circumstances but has become normalized as part of daily life. Ours is a ‘culture’ of permanent revolution in which constant systemic disembedding demands a meta-stable subjectivity in continuous transformation. In this sense, the idea of revolution is painfully timely. This paradoxical coincidence, the simultaneous absence and presence of the desire for radical change in contemporary society, is the point of departure for the symptomatic reading this book offers. The book addresses the social, political and cultural significance of revolt and revolution in three dimensions. First, it analyzes revolt and revolution as ‘events’ which are of history but not reducible to it. Second, it elaborates on theories that grant revolt and revolution a central place in their structure. Thirdly, it discusses revolutionary or emancipatory theories that seek to participate in radical change. Further, since both revolt and revolution involve the critique of what exists, of actual reality, the implications of the intimate relationship between revolt, revolution and critique are explicated.

Paradox and Society

Author : Louis Schneider
Publisher : Transaction Publishers
ISBN 13 : 9780887381126
Total Pages : 248 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (811 download)

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Book Synopsis Paradox and Society by : Louis Schneider

Download or read book Paradox and Society written by Louis Schneider and published by Transaction Publishers. This book was released on 1987-01 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The writings of Bernard Mandeville mark an important transition between enlightenment, social philosophy, and modern science. Born in Holland in 1670 and educated as a physician, Mandeville spent the greater part of his working life in England, where he died in 1733. In some respects, Mandeville can be compared to Voltaire--Mandeville's junior by twenty-four years. Mandeville had the knack of making controversies volcanic and of arousing heated debate about any topic on which he chose to comment--and he chose to comment on virtually everything. He was especially1 interested in social evolution, morality and society, prostitution and romantic love, crime and its deterrence, and in social aspects of religion. His views on these and countless other topics cohere in his continual fascination with the consequences of social and economic actions that run counter to anticipations and intentions and in the paradoxical or ironic cast that such outcomes often have. In Paradox and Society, Louis Schneider is the first to offer a full consideration of Mandeville as a sociologist. Schneider offers an intellectual and characterological portrait of Mandeville, examining his writings and reactions to him over time. Schneider goes on to review Mandeville's theory of human nature, and explores his hotly contested notion of the paradox of private vices and public benefits--that the arousal of desires is a necessary precondition for the stimulation of social and economic development. Social action outside the marketplace, and Mandeville's problematic theory of social evolution, are next considered. The volume ends with an examination of paradox, irony, and satire in society. In this detailed analysis of one of the world's most controversial social critics, Schneider shows us that Mandeville offers a vision of human society that is of enduring significance. He challenges the reader to consider how that vision might operate in today's world.

Paradoxes of Individualization

Author : Dick Houtman
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1351912852
Total Pages : 284 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (519 download)

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Book Synopsis Paradoxes of Individualization by : Dick Houtman

Download or read book Paradoxes of Individualization written by Dick Houtman and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-12-05 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Paradoxes of Individualization addresses one of the most hotly debated issues in contemporary sociology: whether a process of individualization is liberating selves from society so as to make them the authors of their personal biographies. The book adopts a cultural-sociological approach that firmly rejects such a notion of individualization as naïve. The process is instead conceptualized as an increasing social significance of moral notions of individual liberty, personal authenticity and cultural tolerance, which informs two paradoxes. Firstly, chapters about consumer behavior, computer gaming, new age spirituality and right-wing extremism demonstrate that this individualism entails a new, yet often unacknowledged, form of social control. The second paradox, addressed in chapters about religious, cultural and political conflict, is concerned with the fact that it is precisely individualism's increased social significance that has made it morally and politically contested. Paradoxes of Individualization, will therefore be of interest to scholars and students of cultural sociology, cultural anthropology, political science, and cultural, religious and media studies, and particularly to those with interests in social theory, culture, politics and religion.

Paradoxes of Learning

Author : Peter Jarvis
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
ISBN 13 : 1136628630
Total Pages : 284 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (366 download)

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Book Synopsis Paradoxes of Learning by : Peter Jarvis

Download or read book Paradoxes of Learning written by Peter Jarvis and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2012-04-27 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As more is discovered about the powerful impact of lifelong learning on adults, educators are changing their views about how, when and where we learn. Learning is no longer defined only in the context of formal educational settings but in social context as well – including families, the workplace, and religious and political groups. This book explores how learning is our lifetime quest to understand personal identity, purpose and meaning while conforming and adapting to the perceived and real confines of our paradoxical society. The author examines the complex social experience of learning, revealing how culture, gender, race and other societal factors shape an individual’s identity and ability to function in relationships – the basis of all learning. He also discusses the difficult paradox of cultivating creative thinking and reflective action in a society that values the acquisition of degrees, certificates and titles over actual learning and growth.

The Open Society Paradox

Author : Dennis Bailey
Publisher : Potomac Books, Inc.
ISBN 13 : 1612343112
Total Pages : 352 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (123 download)

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Book Synopsis The Open Society Paradox by : Dennis Bailey

Download or read book The Open Society Paradox written by Dennis Bailey and published by Potomac Books, Inc.. This book was released on 2011-07 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How do we ensure security and, at the same time, safeguard civil liberties? The Open Society Paradox challenges the conventional wisdom of those on both sides of the debate--leaders who want unlimited authority and advocates who would sacrifice security for individual privacy protection. It offers a provocative alternative, suggesting that while the very openness of American society has left the United States vulnerable to today's threats, only more of this quality will make the country safer and enhance its citizens' freedom and mobility. Uniquely qualified to address these issues, Dennis Bailey argues that the solution is not to create a police state that restricts liberties but, paradoxically, to embrace greater openness. Through new technologies that engender transparency, including secure information, biometrics, surveillance, facial recognition, and data mining, society can remove the anonymity of the ill-intentioned while revitalizing the notions of trust and accountability and enhancing freedom for most Americans. He explores the impact of greater transparency on our lives, our relationships, and our liberties. The Open Society Paradox is a brave exploration of how to realign our traditional assumptions about privacy with a twenty-first-century concept of an open society.

People of Paradox

Author : Michael Kammen
Publisher : Knopf
ISBN 13 : 0307827704
Total Pages : 316 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (78 download)

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Book Synopsis People of Paradox by : Michael Kammen

Download or read book People of Paradox written by Michael Kammen and published by Knopf. This book was released on 2012-10-03 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this major interpretive work Mr. Kammen argues that most attempt to understand America’s history and culture have minimized its complexity, and he demonstrates that, from our beginnings, what has given our culture its distinctive texture, pattern, and thrust is the dynamic interaction of the imported and the indigenous. He shows now, during the years of colonization, especially in the century from 1660 to 1760, many ideas and institutions were transferred virtually unchanged from Britain, while, simultaneously, others were being transformed in the New World environment. As he unravels the tangled origins of our “bittersweet” culture, Mr. Kammen makes us see that unresolved contradictions in the American experience have functioned as the prime characteristic of our national style. Puritanical and hedonistic, idealistic and materialistic, peace-loving and war-mongering, isolationist and interventionist, consensus-minded and conflict-prone—these opposing strands go back to the roots of our history. He pursues them down through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries—from the traumas of colonization and settlement through the tensions of the American Revolution—making clear both the relevance of this early experience to ninetieth and twentieth-century realities and the way in which America’ dualisms have endured and accumulated to produced such dilemmas as today’s poverty amidst abundance and legitimized lawlessness. Far from being a study in social pathology, People of Paradox is a depiction of a complex society and am explanations of its development—a bold interpretation that gives an entirely new perceptive to the American ethos.