The Lonely Crowd: A Study of the Changing American Character

by David Riesman, Nathan Glazer, Reuel Denney, Richard Sennett (Introduction)

Overview

Considered by many to be one of the most influential books of the twentieth century, The Lonely Crowd opened exciting new dimensions in our understanding of the problems confronting the individual in twentieth-century America. Richard Sennett’s new introduction illuminates the ways in which Riesman’s analysis of a middle class obsessed with how others lived still resonates in the age of social media.
 
“Indispensable reading for anyone who wishes to understand American society. After half a century, this book has lost none of its capacity to make sense of how we live.”—Todd Gitlin

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780300246735
Publisher:	Yale University Press
Publication date:	03/17/2020
Series:	Veritas Paperbacks
Edition description:	Abridged and Revised Edition
Pages:	376
Sales rank:	339,138
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.75(h) x 0.94(d)

About the Author

David Riesman (1909–2002) was Henry Ford II Professor of Social Sciences at Harvard University. Nathan Glazer (1923–2019) was professor of education and sociology at Harvard University. Reuel Denney (1913–1995) was professor of English and American studies at the University of Hawaii. Richard Sennett is a professor of sociology at both New York University and the London School of Economics.

Table of Contents

Introduction Richard Sennett xi

Twenty Years After-A Second Preface xix

Preface to the 1961 Edition xxix

Part 1 Character

Chapter I Some Types of Character and Society 3

I Character and Society 4

High Growth Potential: Tradition-directed Types 8

A Definition of Tradition-direction 10

Transitional Growth: Inner-directed Types 12

A Definition of Inner-direction 13

Incipient Decline of Population: Other-directed Types 15

A Definition of Other-direction 17

The Three Types Compared 21

The Case of Athens 23

Some Necessary Qualifications 25

II The Characterological Struggle 28

Chapter II From Morality to Morale: Changes in the Agents of Character Formation 33

I Changes IN THE Role of the Parents 34

Parental Role in the Stage of Tradition-direction 34

Parental Role in the Stage of Inner-direction 36

Character and Social Mobility 36

Character Training as a Conscious Parental Task 37

Passage from Home 39

Parental Role in the Stage of Other-direction 40

Character and Social Mobility 40

From Bringing Up Children to "Bringing Up Father" 43

The Rule of "Reason" 45

II Changes in the Role of the Teacher 48

The Teacher's Role in the Stage of Inner-direction 50

The Teacher's Role in the Stage of Other-direction 53

Chapter III A Jury of Their Peers: Changes in the Agents of Character Formation (Continued) 57

I The Peer-Group in the Stage of Inner-Direction 57

II The Peer-Group in the Stage of Other-Direction 61

The Trial 61

"The Talk of the Town": The Socialization of Preferences 63

The Antagonistic Cooperators of the Peer-group 70

Chapter IV Storytellers as Tutors in Technique: Changes in the Agents of Character Formation (Continued) 72

I Song and Story in the Stage of Tradition-Direction 74

Chimney-corner Media 74

Tales of Norm and "Abnorm" 74

II The Socializing Functions of Print in the Stage of Inner-Direction 76

The Whip of the Word 77

Models in Print 79

The Oversteered Child 82

III The Mass Media in the Stage of Other-Direction 84

The Child Market 84

Winner Take All? 86

Tootle: A Modern Cautionary Tale 91

Areas of Freedom 93

Chapter V The Inner-directed Round of Life 95

I Men at Work 97

The Economic Problem: The Hardness of the Material 97

"Ad Astra per Aspera" 100

II The Sideshow of Pleasure 101

The Acquisitive Consumer 102

Away from It All 104

Onward and Upward with the Arts 105

Feet on the Rail 106

III The Struggle for Self-Approval 108

Chapter VI The Other-directed Round of Life: From Invisible Hand to Glad Hand 110

I The Economic Problem! The human element 110

From Craft Skill to Manipulative Skill 113

From Free Trade to Fair Trade 115

From the Bank Account to the Expense Account 118

II The Milky Way 120

Chapter VII The Other-directed Round of Life (Continued): The Night Shift 123

I Changes in the Symbolic Meaning of Food and Sex 124

From the Wheat Bowl to the Salad Bowl 124

Sex: The Last Frontier 127

II Changes in the Mode of Consumption of Popular Culture 130

Entertainment as Adjustment to the Group 130

Handling the Office 132

Handling the Home 133

Heavy Harmony 134

Lonely Successes 135

Good-bye to Escape? 137

III The Two Types Compared 139

Part 2 Politics

Chapter VIII Tradition-directed, Inner-directed, and Other-directed Political Styles: Indifferents, Moralizers, Inside-dopesters 143

I The Indifferents 145

Old Style 145

New Style 147

II The Moralizers 150

The Style of the Moralizer-in-power 152

The Style of the Moralizer-in-retreat 155

III The Inside-Dopesters 158

The Balance Sheet of Inside Dope 160

Chapter IX Political Persuasions: Indignation and Tolerance 165

I Politics as an Object of Consumption 166

II The Media as Tutors in Tolerance 168

Tolerance and the Cult of Sincerity 170

Sincerity and Cynicism 171

III Do the Media Escape from Politics? 172

IV The Reservoir of Indignation 175

V "In Dreams Begin Responsibilities" 179

Chapter X Images of Power 181

I The Leaders and the Led 181

Captains of Industry and Captains of Consumption 182

II Who has the Power? 187

The Veto Groups 187

Is There a Ruling Class Left? 191

Chapter XI Americans and Kwakiutls 198

Part 3 Autonomy

Chapter XII Adjustment or Autonomy? 211

I The Adjusted, The Anomic, The Autonomous 212

II The Autonomous among the Inner-Directed 220

III The Autonomous among the Other-Directed 225

Bohemia 227

Sex 228

Tolerance 228

Chapter XIII False Personalization: Obstacles to Autonomy in Work 230

I Cultural Definitions of Work 230

II Glamorizers, Featherbedders, Indispensables 232

White-collar Personalization: Toward Glamor 233

The Conversation of the Classes: Factory Model 235

The Club of Indispensables 237

III The Overpersonalized Society 237

The Automat versus the Glad Hand 239

Chapter XIV Enforced Privatization: Obstacles to Autonomy in Play 243

I The Denial of Sociability 244

II Sociability and the Privatization of Women 246

III Packaged Sociabilities 249

Chapter XV The Problem of Competence: Obstacles to Autonomy in Play (Continued) 251

I The Play's the Thing 251

II The Forms of Competence 254

Consumership: Postgraduate Course 254

The Possibilities of Craftsmanship 256

The Newer Criticism in the Realm of Taste 261

III The Avocational Counselors 263

IV Freeing the Child Market 264

Chapter XVI Autonomy and Utopia 266

Notes 271

Index 287

What People are Saying About This

Todd Gitlin

After half a century, this book has lost none of its capacity to make sense of how we live.

Editorial Reviews

"[P]ublished more than half a century ago . . . [Riesman's book] remains . . . the best-selling book by a professional sociologist in American history."—Orlando Patterson, New York Times


"The Lonely Crowd .. . was published more than half a century ago. It remains not only the best-selling book by a professional sociologist in American history, but arguably one that has had the widest influence on the nation at large. The work . . . inevitably raises questions about the claims and limitations of academic sociology today."—Orlando Patterson, New York Times

"A book for anyone who believes that the economic, political, and psychological problems of our time demand social discovery and invention and who is interested in joining with a vigorous and provocative mind in the discovery."—Helen Lynd, New York Post (on the earlier edition)


"One of the most penetrating and comprehensive views of the twentieth-century urban American you're likely to find."—Commonweal (on the earlier editions)


"The Lonely Crowd remains at least as instructive now as it was in 1950, all the more so as the reality it perceived closes in on us. Reich's disciples would find, if they could conceive of trusting a book that is all of 22 years old. that it speaks to them with at least as much 'relevance' as do their current gurus."—Jonathan Yardley, New Republic (on the earlier edition)

"A brilliant and original book."—Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., The Reporter (on the earlier edition)

"The intellectual freshness The Lonely Crowd provides will give the fortunate reader an impressive emotional experience. This is a book to haunt your senses."—Joseph M. Goldsen, Public Opinion Quarterly (on the earlier edition)

"David Reisman's is the rare book which will be read with pleasure and profit even by those who reject its central conclusions. . . . A challenging explanation of the American character."—Oscar Handlin, Saturday Review of Literature (on the earlier edition)


"As accessible as it is acute, The Lonely Crowd isindispensable reading for anyone who wishes to understand American society. After half a century, this book has lost none of its capacity to make sense of how we live."—Todd Gitlin


"Brilliant and original."—Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. (on the earlier editions)

"A stimulating and provocative book. . . . It is impossible to do justice in a review to the breadth and richness of the material."—Margaret Mead (on the the earlier edition)

"Riesman has a spaciousness of outlook which brings great promise to American social theory. . . . His work is strewn with insights which make every page crackle as you read it."—Max Lerner

From the Publisher

[T]he best-selling book by a professional sociologist in American history . . . [with] the widest influence on the nation at large.

New York Times

As accessible as it is acute, The Lonely Crowd is indispensable reading for anyone who wishes to understand American society. After half a century, this book has lost none of its capacity to make sense of how we live.

Todd Gitlin