The Myth of Individualism: How Social Forces Shape Our Lives

by Peter L. Callero

Overview

The Myth of Individualism is an engaging and accessible introduction to the relationship between self and society. Drawing on personal experiences, historical examples, and compelling stories, Callero dispels the myth of the self-reliant autonomous actor and demonstrates how our lives are shaped by powerful social forces. These include the power of cultural beliefs and symbols, lifelong socialization processes, the influence of authority, the power of small groups, and the encompassing control of economic systems associated with social class, state power, and mass media. The implications for identity and inequalities linked to race, gender, sexuality, and disability are at the center of each chapter. In the tradition of C. Wright Mills and Peter Berger, Callero presents sociological thinking as a tool for enlightenment and change and argues that the inherently social nature of all persons holds out promise for a better world.

New to the Fourth Edition:

• New Chapter 7, “From the Printing Press to the Internet” explores how mass media has changed both society and the self
• Discussion of the COVID-19 pandemic throughout the book, including physical isolation and protests surrounding mask mandates, offers recent and relevant examples that illustrate the problems and dilemmas of radical individualism
• New discussion of the disability rights movement, Black Lives Matter, LGBTQAI+, and women’s suffrage in Chapter 8, “From ‘Me’ to ‘We’”
• New introduction familiarizes students with the nature of science, scientific progress, and scientific truth

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781538172896
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	05/15/2023
Edition description:	Fourth Edition
Pages:	238
Product dimensions:	6.19(w) x 8.71(h) x 0.57(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Peter L. Callero is professor emeritus of sociology at Western Oregon University. He is the author of Being Unequal: How Identity Helps Make and Break Power and Privilege and Giving Blood: The Development of an Altruistic Identity (with Jane Piliavin) and coeditor of The Self-Society Dynamic: Cognition, Emotion, and Action. He has published extensively on issues of self, identity, and politics.

Table of Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1: Individualism

The Mask Controversy

Why All the Drama?

What is American Individualism?

A Culture of Individualism

Economic Individualism

Individualism in Economic Theory

What’s Wrong with Individualism?

Sociology as Myth Buster

2: Becoming a Person

Evil Witches

Missing Links

The Socially Constructed Person

Language and the Power of Symbols

The Sociology of Thought

Group Differences in Social Cognition

The Sociology of Emotion

The Sociology of Identity

3: Conformity and Disobedience

Obedience to Authority

Questioning Authority

Resisting Authority

Solidarity and Conflict Between Groups

Group Identity

4: Family Matters

The Myth of Meritocracy

Alexander Williams

Tyrec Taylor

The Relationship Between Class and Family Life

Class Competition

Cultural Capital

Sources of Cultural Capital

The Privilege of Class

5: Globalization

A New Type of Capitalism

Communities in Crisis

China Blues

Global Connections

Who Benefits?

Rowena

Care for Sale

6: Government Control

What is The State?

Types of State Power

The Shooting

The Protest

The Sociological Context

State Borders and State Power

Borders are Not for Everyone

Making the Invisible Visible

7: From the Printing Press to the Internet

How Media Shapes Our Lives

The Power of the Printing Press

How the Printing Press Changed People

How the Printing Press Changed Society

How New Electronic Media Changed People

Media Addiction?

The Danger of Social Media

The Death of Molly Russell

How Electronic Media Changes Society

Social Change and Social Media

8: From “Me” to “We”

A Woman and a Movement

What is a Social Movement?

Social Movements and Democracy

Global Democracy

The Globalization Movement

The World Trade Organization

Protecting Power

Global Solidarity

Conclusion

Index

About the Author

Editorial Reviews

An excellent introduction for novice sociologists.

Laura Colmenero-Chilberg

For several years now, The Myth of Individualism has oriented my students toward deep appreciation of how social relationships and complex social forces are fundamental to understanding behavior. This most recent and welcome edition offers clear-minded and updated examples –including around social media, the pandemic, and movements for racial justice – that will resonate with undergraduates’ experiences and spark important discussions in, and hopefully outside, the classroom.

Michaela DeSoucey

The Myth of Individualism is a wonderful text to introduce and remind students how "social forces shape our individual lives and choices." In this day of scientific ignorance and distrust, Callero reminds us why we need social science and elucidates the ways in which science is a social process. The writing style is conversational and accessible, with a narrative approach and each chapter providing an illustrative story to engage students. Not only do students like the text, instructors will also appreciate how engaging it is and will enjoy reading it along with their students.

Teresa Scheid

I find it particularly challenging to teach American students to think sociologically, because their belief in individualism makes it hard for them to see that macro social structures are not just their own personal micro experiences, writ large. The Myth of Individualism helps make their taken-for-granted commitment into a problem to consider. My Introductory classes begin with this book, so that the concept that individualism is a myth becomes one of the framing ideas of the course.

Beau Weston

In The Myth of Individualism, Callero effectively introduces the reader to the sociological imagination. Through the exploration of historical contexts and contemporary social issues, the reader is left with tools to explore the social forces at work in their own lives.

Sarah Rasch

An excellent introduction for novice sociologists.

For several years now, The Myth of Individualism has oriented my students toward deep appreciation of how social relationships and complex social forces are fundamental to understanding behavior. This most recent and welcome edition offers clear-minded and updated examples -including around social media, the pandemic, and movements for racial justice - that will resonate with undergraduates' experiences and spark important discussions in, and hopefully outside, the classroom.

I find it particularly challenging to teach American students to think sociologically, because their belief in individualism makes it hard for them to see that macro social structures are not just their own personal micro experiences, writ large. The Myth of Individualism helps make their taken-for-granted commitment into a problem to consider. My Introductory classes begin with this book, so that the concept that individualism is a myth becomes one of the framing ideas of the course.

In The Myth of Individualism, Callero effectively introduces the reader to the sociological imagination. Through the exploration of historical contexts and contemporary social issues, the reader is left with tools to explore the social forces at work in their own lives.

The Myth of Individualism is a wonderful text to introduce and remind students how "social forces shape our individual lives and choices." In this day of scientific ignorance and distrust, Callero reminds us why we need social science and elucidates the ways in which science is a social process. The writing style is conversational and accessible, with a narrative approach and each chapter providing an illustrative story to engage students. Not only do students like the text, instructors will also appreciate how engaging it is and will enjoy reading it along with their students.

From the Publisher

Peter Callero has scored again with the third edition of The Myth of Individualism. As before, this text is highly recommended as a supplement to an introductory text in sociology. Callero has produced an extremely readable overview of some difficult theoretical and conceptual problematics in sociology. He is able to integrate issues of micro and macro sociology using excellent concrete examples. A complementary and dialectical relationship between symbolic interactionism and basic structuralism is accomplished that is comprehensible to undergraduate students. The dialectic is demonstrated in a way that is clearly critical and even counter-hegemonic. This text is a true pleasure to read.

Dean Braa

As a teaching tool, Peter Callero’s The Myth of Individualism is a sociological gem. Callero masterfully weaves together sociological concepts and theories, quantitative and qualitative data, journalistic accounts, and personal narrative in explicating the power of social forces on our lives. Appropriate for a range of lower-level sociology courses, this brief, engaging, current, and highly readable text clarifies for students the inextricable relationship between the individual and society. I often ask students in my introduction to sociology course to visualize society as a complex, multi-dimensional web of social relations, hidden from most people by a thick fog of individualism that obscures their ability to “see” beyond their immediate social context. Chapter by chapter, The Myth of Individualism dissipates this fog, revealing the presence of social forces that shape our lives—the result is that students’ sociological vision becomes more acute. I highly recommend The Myth of Individualism. Your students’ emerging sociological imaginations will thank you.

Ted Thornhill

This book is essential reading for understanding how social forces shape who we are. Peter Callero reminds us that democracy is a “we” project and that justice requires collective action. I highly recommend this book to those who want to make positive changes to our society.

Joseph R. Nichols

Peter Callero, with head and heart, knows of what he writes, for he combines powerful narrative, praxis, and vision. One would expect no less from a scholar of society who has dedicated his life to seeking both truth and social justice. Such is a dialectic we all need to practice. And in the spirit of seeking truth and a better world, readers of this fine book can engage in a constructive debate with the author: is individualism a myth (in the pejorative sense) or is it an imaginative personal growth opportunity to go deep into one's spiritual and existential solitude (like Thoreau, for instance) and discover a profound social—and ecological—solidarity? Callero engages us if we decide to think with our whole beings as we read, in the best Socratic and Gandhian satyagraha traditions.

Frank Fromherz

We cannot truly confront the most pressing issues of the day—from environmental degradation to racial inequality to poverty and beyond—without understanding the complex relationship between the individual and society. In the United States, where individualism is woven into every facet of our society and culture, citizens are left to grapple with the most important social problems of our time without a well-developed understanding of the interplay between individuals and society; without this in their intellectual toolkit, they cannot fully understand the complexities of the social world. Peter Callero’s The Myth of Individualism is the perfect starting point to orient college students and citizens alike towards the sociological perspective. Callero presents an important and complicated subject in a manner accessible to all readers. This book is useful in a variety of college courses from the freshman to the senior level, and it should occupy an important place on every citizen’s bookshelf.

Lawrence M. Eppard

The Myth of Individualism introduces readers to eight powerful institutions, all examples of the complex interdependence of groups and individuals. Discerning, shrewd, and reliably researched, this third edition provides a mine of updated, sociologically sound information. Throughout, there are hints as to how the knowledge one is acquiring can be useful in everyday life. Written in a highly accessible style, the book is a compelling introduction to thinking systematically about the social and a fascinating read!

Devorah Kalekin-Fishman

In The Sociological Imagination, C. Wright Mills tells us that sociology promises an understanding of the connections between biography and history, self and society. In The Myth of Individualism, Peter Callero delivers on this promise. By showing how to think about ourselves as both products of society and its makers, Callero nurtures the sociological imagination while also helping us see what it means for creating a more just world.

Michael Schwalbe

The Myth of Individualism has exceeded all of my expectations. I use it every semester, and many students over the last few years have told me that this was the most interesting book they have ever read. It is a remarkably well-written book and very profound.

Benjamin Gross

One of the great challenges in teaching sociology is helping students to see that individuals are not the masters of their own destiny. Despite the overwhelming societal belief that we are all self-made and that we reap what we sow, the truth is that external social forces play a significant role in shaping our lives. In The Myth of Individualism, Peter Callero exposes the fallacies and shortcomings of what he calls “radical individualism,” and he demonstrates the personal and societal harms that result from this ideology. With clear writing, current and engaging examples, and an important new chapter on state power, the third edition of this book solidifies its reputation as a classic introductory text of the sociological imagination.

Peter Kaufman

In a changing world, the timing of this book is perfect. The Myth of Individualism is a tool to navigate the challenges of today and the current societal issues we are facing. This is an excellent sociological book that explains the past in order to better understand the realities of the twenty-first century.

Carl S. Taylor

Peter Callero's The Myth of Individualism is the kind of introductory sociology text that is needed to reach the millennium generation of students flooding into our colleges and universities. Current freshmen do not accept something as 'true' just because someone in authority tells them to think that way; they want to understand 'why' things are the way that they are and believe that they can impact pressing social issues. Instead of the 'time-tested' approach of many intro sociology textbooks—i.e. cataloging the social institutions and processes—Callero invites students to actively engage in sociological thinking by focusing on how our society's blind acceptance of the logic of individualism masks individuals' understanding the relationship between our personal lives and the social forces that structure them. With examples taken from current events, The Myth of Individualism will inspire students to reject reductionist explanations for social outcomes (e.g. the rich are rich because they work harder than other people), and to utilize a sociological perspective in responding to the issues they encounter in everyday life in a complicated world.

Peter Collier

I have used this book since it was published, and it is my favorite sociology book. The content is very accessible to all students—it is concise and affordable. Students can relate to the various stories very well and connect the concepts to their own lives.

Paul Harasha

In The Myth of Individualism, Peter Callero calls on us to be truly accountable to one another and to ourselves. The ideas and insights Callero offers have acquired greater urgency since his book's first publication. It is the work of a compassionate public intellectual and a passionate, engaged citizen. As a teacher, I find that The Myth of Individualism speaks to my multidisciplinary pedagogy, helping me reach out to students in these times of great challenges and greater hopes.

Ray Mizumura-Pence