Is America Breaking Apart?

by John A. Hall, Charles Lindholm

Overview

Is the United States a nation of materialistic loners whose politics are dictated by ethnic, racial, religious, or sexual identities? This is what America has become in the eyes of many commentators. Americans seem to fear that their society is breaking apart, but how accurate is this portrayal and how justified is the fear? Introducing a balanced viewpoint into this intense debate, John Hall and Charles Lindholm demonstrate that such alarm is unfounded. Here they explore the institutional structures of American society, emphasizing its ability to accommodate difference and reduce conflict. The culture, too, comes under scrutiny: influenced by Calvinistic beliefs, Americans place faith in the individual but demand high moral commitment to the community. Broad in scope and ambition, this short book draws a realistic portrait of a society that is among the most powerful and stable in the world, yet is perennially shaken by self-doubt.

Concern over the cohesiveness of American society, Hall and Lindholm argue, is actually a product of a shared cultural belief in human distinctiveness and equality. They find that this shared belief paradoxically leads Americans to exaggerated worries about disunity, since they are afraid that disagreements among co-equals will rend apart a fragile community based solely on consensus and caring. While there is little dissent among Americans over essential values, racism still abounds. Here the authors predict that the homogenizing force of economic participation might still be the key to mending the wounds of racial turmoil.

By combining history, sociology, and anthropology, the authors cover a wide range of past and recent challenges to the stability of American society: from the history of unions to affirmative action, from McCarthyism to militant distrust of government, from early prejudice toward Irish and Italian immigrants to current treatment of African Americans. Hall and Lindholm do not skirt the internal contradictions and moral tensions of American society but nonetheless recognize the strength and promise of its institutions and culture. Their book is a vivid, sweeping response to the doomsayers in the reassessment of our society.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781400822843
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	04/13/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	184
File size:	941 KB

About the Author

John A. Hall is Professor of Sociology at McGill University. His recent books include Coercion and Consent and International Orders.
Charles Lindholm is University Professor of Anthropology at Boston University. His recent books are Charisma and The Islamic Middle East: An Historical Anthropology.

Table of Contents

	Preface to the Paperback Edition	xi
	Preface	xix
	Introduction	3
Part 1	The growth of political stability	11
1	The state and the people	15
2	The national question	31
3	The challenge of class	47
4	The world in America, America in the world	61
5	Reprise	75
Part 2	Sociability in America	79
6	Conceptual baselines	83
7	Sacred values	91
8	Anti-politics in America	109
9	Ambivalence about association	121
10	Ethnicity as choice, race as destiny	129
11	Two cheers for homogeneity	145
	Conclusion	149
	Index	155

What People are Saying About This

Katherine Newman

In this provocative book, the authors hold a mirror up to the nation and find . . . a country that is politically stable, resilient in the face of conflict, and able to live with the anxiety pluralism produces. A stimulating, thoughtful, and well-reasoned argument on the state of the nation.
— Katherine Newman, Harvard University

John Patrick Diggins

Ever since Tocqueville, America has posed a standing paradox: a country of vast diversity that survives only because of its deeper unanimity. Hall and Lindholm successfully explain why the country continues to cohere despite all the clamor over multiculturalism and a politics of difference.
— John Patrick Diggins, City University of New York

From the Publisher

"A book of this kind has been begging to be written, and Hall and Lindholm are the perfect pair to do it. They have a strong sense of history and of theory, and they write well, making compelling arguments in a civil way."—Robert Wuthnow, Princeton University

"A major contribution to the debate over the nature of American society today."—Robert N. Bellah, University of California, Berkeley

"In this provocative book, the authors hold a mirror up to the nation and find . . . a country that is politically stable, resilient in the face of conflict, and able to live with the anxiety pluralism produces. A stimulating, thoughtful, and well-reasoned argument on the state of the nation."—Katherine Newman, Harvard University

"Ever since Tocqueville, America has posed a standing paradox: a country of vast diversity that survives only because of its deeper unanimity. Hall and Lindholm successfully explain why the country continues to cohere despite all the clamor over multiculturalism and a politics of difference."—John Patrick Diggins, City University of New York

Robert Wuthnow, Princeton University

A book of this kind has been begging to be written, and Hall and Lindholm are the perfect pair to do it. They have a strong sense of history and of theory, and they write well, making compelling arguments in a civil way.

Bellah

A major contribution to the debate over the nature of American society today.
— Robert N. Bellah, University of California, Berkeley

Robert Wuthnow

A book of this kind has been begging to be written, and Hall and Lindholm are the perfect pair to do it. They have a strong sense of history and of theory, and they write well, making compelling arguments in a civil way.
— Robert Wuthnow, Princeton University

Editorial Reviews

The America of Mr. Hall and Mr. Lindholm is a good place, but one that could be better. It is internally very strong but could, over its course of its 200 or so years have gone in other directions than it did. That thought is one of the more interesting ones the authors offer and is the basis of the first half of their book, in which they claim four historic turning points in the republic's history. -- Washington Times

Colin Walters

Those facts are from a slender (154 pages) new book, Is America Breaking Apart? by John A. Hall of McGill University and Charles Lindholm of Boston University. Their book is a timely appreciation of "the cohesive power of the American experiment." In spite of "endless talk of difference," American society is an amazing machine for homogenizing people. There is "the democratizing uniformity of dress and discourse, and the casualness and absence of deference" characteristic of popular culture. People are absorbed into "a culture of consumption" launched by the 19th-century department stores that offered "vast arrays of goods in a palatial atmosphere. Instead of intimate shops catering to a knowledgeable elite" these were stores "anyone could enter, regardless of class or background. This turned shopping into a communal and democratic act." The mass media, advertising and mass spectator sports are other forces for homogenization.
— Newsweek

George F. Will

Unlike many other countries, America as a republic has been free of outside intervention in charting its future. From the early Colonists shared English backgrounds through the continuing assimilation of immigrant cultures, social conflict and political protest have created a society that asserts the equality (and individuality) of all. The federal government is likely to be maintained and political citizenship widely realized; the country (in general) has enjoyed economic growth and can see no real threats to its leadership position in the capitalist world. Hall (sociology, McGill Univ.) and Lindholm (anthropology, Boston Univ.) present a reasoned polemic, arguing that the United States, while not without self-doubt, the stain of racism, and other internal conflicts and disparities, has emerged as the worlds most powerful and stable society, not likely to break apart soon. Readable and highly recommended for academics and the general public.Suzanne W. Wood, SUNY Coll. of Technology, Alfred

Library Journal

Hall (sociology, McGill U.) and Lindholm (anthropology, Boston U.) explore the institutional structures of American society, emphasizing the society's ability to accommodate difference and defuse conflict. Scrutinizing how Americans place faith in the individual but demand high moral commitment to the community, they argue that American society is actually a product of a shared cultural belief in human distinctiveness and equality, a shared belief that seems to exaggerate worries about disunity. Combining history, sociology, and anthropology, they cover a wide range of past and recent challenges and recognize the strength and promise of American society despite the internal contradictions and moral tensions. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknew.com)

Booknews

In this essentially optimistic book, only one sour note is sounded. America holds together much better than one would expect, except that blacks are not yet properly included. The spectre of "two nations" now pits the desperate anomie of the black ghettoes against the rest of the country, black and white.

The Economist

Amid the clamor of multiculturalism and "difference" politics, Americans wonder if their country can remain a cohesive whole. Hall (Sociology/McGill Univ., Canada) and Lindholm (Anthropology/Boston Univ.) argue that our concerns are unfounded and not all that new; for better, and sometimes for worse, we will survive. American unity derives from both historically conditioned institutional patterns and shared cultural values. Historically, oppositional forces coalesced within a flexible and stable two-party system quite early on and citizenship rights steadily if selectively expanded. At the same time, threatening social alternatives—be they the antebellum South or late 19th-century socialist radicalism—were, often quite violently, eliminated. What emerged from all this was a society of core homogeneity, but a homogeneity of a peculiar sort. In the authors' words, we have achieved "homogenization by the extension of the American values of individual choice." While we may all think alike, we think in terms of individual autonomy, uniqueness, and justice. This does make of us the atomized herd described by so many observers of America. We do value community quite strongly, but only as the voluntary cooperation of equals. Therein lies the rub, for free individuals can always withdraw support from a community. And so we worry. Yet, on the other hand, the tolerant and pragmatic nature of American cultural values, the willingness to forego deep-seated ideological beliefs that demand conformity, paradoxically keeps us together. Much of what the authors say is not that unique, but it is their ambivalence that intrigues. Certainly, a stable society is to be preferred to one constantly inturmoil, but at what price stability? Was not the labor struggle of the late 19th century a legitimate social alternative? Does not a culture of equality mask enormous economic as well asp racial inequalities of the US? Still, the authors find hope in the enduring tensions between American ideals and reality. A slim but very thoughtful volume that is well worth reading.

Kirkus Reviews

"Briefly but brilliantly Hall and Lindholm marshal sociology and history to assert that there has never been a time in American history without hostilities and rifts. . . . The prose is at once judicious and elegant. Appealing both to intellect and imagination, this work unites a clear vision of American past with expectations of future achievement. It deserves the widest possible audience."

Choice

"As [the authors] point out, in a book that is both soothing and convincing . . . the nation, at least as a community of interacting individuals, is strong and safe."

The Economist Review

"A brisk, unusually lively tour through American history and habits. . . . Is America Breaking Apart? usefully urges us to probe for Balkanizing impulses in our own souls, then pronounces us healthy."—-Carlin Romano, Philadelphia Inquirer

"[A] short, stimulating book. . . . Mr. Hall's and Mr. Lindholm's overall intention is to show how the United States has held together since the Founding, why it shows every promise of continuing to do so, and what are the positive and negative aspects of that history and present state of affairs."—-Colin Walters, The Washington Times

From the Publisher

Insightful and persuasive. . . . The authors manage the difficult task of being both brief and nuanced.

Christian Century - Rhys H. Williams

Mr. Hall's and Mr. Lindholm's overall intention is to show how the United States has held together since the Founding, why it shows every promise of continuing to do so, and what are the positive and negative aspects of that history and present state of affairs. . . . [A] short, stimulating book.

The Washington Times - Colin Walters

A brisk, unusually lively tour through American history and habits. . . . Is America Breaking Apart? usefully urges us to probe for Balkanizing impulses in our own souls, then pronounces us healthy.

Philadelphia Inquirer - Carlin Romano

Mr. Hall's and Mr. Lindholm's overall intention is to show how the United States has held together since the Founding, why it shows every promise of continuing to do so, and what are the positive and negative aspects of that history and present state of affairs. . . . [A] short, stimulating book.
— Colin Walters

Washington Times

Insightful and persuasive. . . . The authors manage the difficult task of being both brief and nuanced.
— Rhys H. Williams

Christian Century

[A] short, stimulating book. . . . Mr. Hall's and Mr. Lindholm's overall intention is to show how the United States has held together since the Founding, why it shows every promise of continuing to do so, and what are the positive and negative aspects of that history and present state of affairs.
— Colin Walters

The Washington Times

A brisk, unusually lively tour through American history and habits. . . . Is America Breaking Apart? usefully urges us to probe for Balkanizing impulses in our own souls, then pronounces us healthy.
— Carlin Romano

Philadelphia Inquirer