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    A Macat Analysis of David Riesman's The Lonely Crowd: A Study of the Changing American Character
    A Macat Analysis of David Riesman's The Lonely Crowd: A Study of the Changing American Character
    A Macat Analysis of David Riesman's The Lonely Crowd: A Study of the Changing American Character
    Audiobook1 hour

    A Macat Analysis of David Riesman's The Lonely Crowd: A Study of the Changing American Character

    Written by Jarrod Homer

    Narrated by Macat.com

    5/5

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    About this audiobook

    American lawyer-turned-sociologist David Riesman published his first book, The Lonely Crowd, in 1950. Aimed at academics, it nonetheless gained a large popular audience. In it, Riesman explores the links between social character—the ways in which members of a society are similar to one another—and social structures. He argues that as the United States became predominantly consumer-driven, rather than production-driven—particularly after World War II—American social character changed. Riesman said that prewar Americans had been largely inner-directed: they based their behavior on their own internal values and beliefs. Postwar Americans were becoming other-directed, with external groups including peers and the media now a key influence on the way they behaved. Riesman was observing, rather than judging, this change. The public, however, read his book as a criticism of the United States’ newly developing social character. Riesman’s work popularized sociology, helping to establish it as an academic discipline, and today it provides a fascinating window into the 1950s American psyche.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacat
    Release dateJul 15, 2016
    ISBN9781912284566
    A Macat Analysis of David Riesman's The Lonely Crowd: A Study of the Changing American Character

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    Reviews for A Macat Analysis of David Riesman's The Lonely Crowd

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    • 5/5
      Putting 5 stars because people should think about this.

      My argument against this book is that people understand what they are choosing to do. Suppose in a peer group with influence, people will aim to project an acceptable form of themselves, even to the discomfort of themselves. In this, people know inherently that they are being inauthentic, and choose not to educate themselves so they can help understand what controls them; because if a question can be asked, an answer can be found no matter how uncomfortable. If everyone is choosing to fit in, everyone is responsible,


      “Lord forgive them for they know what they do”.