Review: The cultural contradictions of capitalism
Editorial Review - Kirkus ReviewsMorison tells us that early American technology developed within a context of limited scope and purpose, with concrete designs on nature and distinct human needs to fulfill. He illustrates his points by discussing the construction of canals, the refinement of iron, the invention of the incandescent light, and the men who pursued such advances. Since then, technology has been overwhelmed by the notion of ""progress""; it lacks a center, a coherent, restrained plan and it seems to be running madly off in all directions. We have introduced many changes into the world, but we have not paused to decide what to do with them. Morison speaks of a ""mismatch"" between our power and our confusion about our needs. An ""apocalyptic call to arms"" in the ""war on pollution"" has little meaning. He insists that we must clarify human want: what is the place of work in man's nature -""a perennial curse, a manifestation of love, a biological need, a neurotic necessity, or just something. . . to do?"" What of other needs? How much abstraction can man tolerate? How much logicality can he stand? How much power can he accept before he abuses it? Finally, Morison calls for ad hoc ""committees of public safety"" to coordinate research and engineering. He manages to combine the virtues of both scientist and humanist without their vices. A refreshing book.
Review: The cultural contradictions of capitalism
Editorial Review - Kirkus ReviewsThis book rests on nostalgia for the peaceful 1950's, when Bell rose to prominence as a messenger announcing ""the end of ideology""; Bell now wishes people would curb their ""unrestrained appetite"" and return to ""tradition."" He begins with a polemic against the idea that society is ""integral,"" and offers instead a poor man's structuralism, a common-sense division of social spheres into the economic, political and cultural. The book addresses each of these in turn. Modernist culture, Bell accurately insists, has been senile for the last 50 years, and the counterculture grows more and more bestial. However, the only poles of artistic expression Bell defines are classical imitation of reality, or iconoclastic transformation of that reality into chaos--which seems to leave out such great artists as Goya or Breughel. On the level of politics, Bell deplores the decay of US global ascendancy, which will be complete by the year 2000. On the economic level, he identifies the ""mountain of debt"" and deficiency of real production as key problems. But murderous inflation or dictatorial economic controls are seen as the only alternatives: a ""tragic sense of life"" is recommended. In order to justly distribute what remains, ""undue and illegitimate influence and command of resources"" should be avoided. Who defines and enforces ""legitimacy"" is not explored; and Bell's other principle, ""to each according to the powers and privileges appropriate to each sphere,"" raises the same question. Writing like Boethius besieged by Goths, Bell defends humane liberalism, but explicitly opposes the ""hubris"" that produced liberalism's highest accomplishments. And Bell's right to lament the immorality of the counterculture and the persistence of ""appetite"" remains a dubious one, since it was he who denied the existence of fundamental moral problems beyond technical patchwork.
Review: The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism
User Review - Sarah - GoodreadsIt was hard for me to read, his vocabulary was a bit over my head. I loved the discussion with classmates about his theories on modernism. Read full review
Review: The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism
User Review - Brandon - GoodreadsA beautiful text that covers the contradictions of capitalism and American culture. It is a must read for those who are sociology majors and/or those interested in understanding the struggles that go on today betwixt modernism and postmodernism. Read full review
Review: The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism
User Review - GoodreadsBell begins by arguing that capitalism derived from Christian values, what he terms the "Protestant ethic" and the "Puritan temper." Others have since shown it is really from medieval Christianity ...
Review: The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism
User Review - Panos - GoodreadsSocrates or Nietzsche(?); rationalism, skepticism or nihilism? You like it or not, It doesn't matter. This is one of the most important books of the century. And yes: " a touchstone of cultural judgment". Read full review
Review: The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism
User Review - Peter - GoodreadsWell-argued, perversely wrong about near everything. Bell in a nutshell. Read full review
Review: The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism
User Review - Goodreads(Mentioned, I think, in Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma. The new edition with the author's afterword sounds better, but the SFPL only has the original edition.)
Review: The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism
User Review - Johnny - GoodreadsThis book combines sociology, psychology, and a little bit of theoretical economics into a fascinating treatise for the creation of a Public Household, a new model for societal/economic cooperation ... Read full review
