The Lonely Crowd: A Study of the Changing American Character

389 Pages·2001·26.356 MB·English

by  David Riesman, Nathan Glazer, Reuel Denney, Todd Gitlin

The Lonely Crowd

The Lonely Crowd
A study of the changing
American character
by David Riesman
with Nathan Glazer
and Reuel Denney
Abridged and revised
edition with a foreword
by Todd Gitlin
EUta/e Nota Bene
Yale University Press
New Haven & London
First Published as a Yale Nota Bene book in 2001.
First abridged edition copyright © 1961 by Yale University Press.
Copyright © renewed 1989 by David Riesman, Nathan Glazer, and
Reuel Denney. Foreword copyright © 2000 by Todd Gitlin.
All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or
in part, including illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying
permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and
except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission
from the publishers.
For information about this and other
Yale University Press publications, please contact:
U.S. office [email protected]
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Printed in the United States of America.
Library of Congress catalog card number: 00-105884
ISBN 0-300-08865-5 (pbk.)
A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Foreword by Todd Gitlin xi
Twenty Years After—A Second Preface xxi
Preface to the 1961 Edition xxxiii
PART I: CHARACTER
Chapter I. Some Types of Character and Society 3
I. Character and Society 5
High Growth Potential: Tradition-directed Types 9
A Definition of Tradition-direction 11
Transitional Growth: Inner-directed Types 13
A Definition of Inner-direction 14
Incipient Decline of Population: Other-directed Types 17
A Definition of Other-direction 19
The Three Types Compared 24
The Case of Athens 25
Some Necessary Qualifications 28
II. The Characterological Struggle 31
Chapter II. From Morality to Morale: Changes in the Agents
of Character Formation 3 7
I. Changes in the Role of the Parents 38
Parental Role in the Stage of Tradition-direction 38
Parental Role in the Stage of Inner-direction 40
Character and Social Mobility 40
v
vi CONTENTS
Character Training as a Conscious Parental Task 42
Passage from Home 44
Parental Role in the Stage of Other-direction 45
Character and Social Mobility 45
From Bringing up Children to "Bringing up Father" 48
The Rule of Reason" 51
Changes in the Role of the Teacher 55
The Teachers Role in the Stage of Inner-direction 57
The Teacher's Role in the Stage of Other-direction 60
Chapter III. A Jury of Their Peers: Changes in the Agents
of Character Formation (Continued) 66
I. The Peer-group in the Stage of Inner-direction 66
II. The Peer-group in the Stage of Other-direction 70
The Trial 71
"The Talk of the Town": the Socialization of Preferences 11
The Antagonistic Cooperators of the Peer-group 81
Chapter IV. Storytellers as Tutors in Technique: Changes in
the Agents of Character Formation (Continued) 83
Song and Story in the Stage of Tradition-direction 85
Chimney-corner Media 85
Tales of Norm and "Abnorm" 86
The Socializing Functions of Print in the Stage
of Inner-direction 87
The Whip of the Word 89
Models in Print 91
The Oversteered Child 95
The Mass Media in the Stage of Other-direction 96
The Child Market 96
Winner Take All? 99
Tootle: a Modern Cautionary Tale 104
Areas of Freedom 107
CONTENTS vii
Chapter V. The Inner-directed Round of Life 109
I. Men at Work 111
The Economic Problem: the Hardness of the Material 111
Ad Astra per Aspera 115
II. The Side Show of Pleasure 116
The Acquisitive Consumer 117
Away from It All 119
Onward and Upward with the Arts 120
Feet on the Rail 121
HI. The Struggle for Self-approval 123
Chapter VI. The Other-directed Round of Life: from
Invisible Hand to Glad Hand 126
I. The Economic Problem: the Human Element 127
From Craft Skill to Manipulative Skill 129
From Free Trade to Fair Trade 131
From the Bank Account to the Expense Account 135
H. The Milky Way 137
Chapter VII. The Other-directed Round of Life
(Continued): The Night Shift 141
I. Changes in the Symbolic Meaning of Food and Sex 142
From the Wheat Bowl to the Salad Bowl 142
Sex: the Last Frontier 145
II. Changes in the Mode of Consumption
of Popular Culture 149
Entertainment as Adjustment to the Group 149
Handling the Office 151
Handling the Home 152
Heavy Harmony 153
Lonely Successes 155
Good-bye to Escape? 156
III. The Two Types Compared 159
viii CONTENTS
PART H. POLITICS
Chapter VIIL Tradition-directed, Inner-directed,
and Other-directed Political Styles: Indifferents,
Moralizers, Inside-dopesters 163
I. The Indifferents 165
Old Style 165
New Style 167
II. The Moralizers 172
The Style of the Moralizer-in-power 173
The Style of the Moralizer-in-retreat 177
EEL The Inside-dopesters 180
The Balance Sheet of Inside Dope 182
Chapter EX. Political Persuasions: Indignation
and Tolerance 188
L Politics as an Object of Consumption 190
II. The Media as Tutors in Tolerance 192
Tolerance and the Cult of Sincerity 193
Sincerity and Cynicism 195
EEL Do the Media Escape From Politics? 197
IV. The Reservoir of Indignation 200
V. "In Dreams Begin Responsibilities" 204
Chapter X. Images of Power 206
I. The Leaders and the Led 206
Captains of Industry and Captains of Consumption 207
II. Who Has the Power? 213
The Veto Groups 213
b There a Ruling Class Left? 217
Chapter XI. Americans and Rwakiutls 225
CONTENTS ix
PART III: AUTONOMY
Chapter XII. Adjustment or Autonomy? 239
I. The Adjusted, the Anomic, the Autonomous 240
II. The Autonomous Among the Inner-directed 249
III. The Autonomous Among the Other-directed 255
Bohemia 258
Sex 258
Tolerance 259
Chapter XIII. False Personalization: Obstacles to
Autonomy in Work 261
I. Cultural Definitions of Work 261
II. Glamorizers, Featherbedders, Itidispensables 264
White-collar 'Personalization: toward Glamor 264
The Conversation of the Classes: Factory Model 267
The Club oflndispensables 269
III. The Overpersonalized Society 269
The Automat versus the Glad Hand 271
Chapter XIV. Enforced Privatization: Obstacles to
Autonomy in Play 276
I. The Denial of Sociability 277
II. Sociability and the Privatization of Women 280
III. Packaged Sociabilities 283
Chapter XV The Problem of Competence: Obstacles to
Autonomy in Play (Continued) 2 86
I. The Play's the Thing 286
II. The Forms of Competence 290
Consumership: Postgraduate Course 290