Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1042155 in Books
• Published on: 2000-05-17
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 320 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Nobel Prize-winning University of Chicago economist Fogel (Without Consent or Contract: The Rise and Fall of American Slavery) ambitiously tries to integrate the history of American religion with the history of social reform and the move toward equality. Fogel says that 18th- and 19th-century America experienced three large religious revivals--or Great Awakenings--each bringing about social reforms. The first awakening began in 1730 and laid the groundwork for the American Revolution. The second began in 1800, and inspired abolitionists and temperance workers. The mandate of the third awakening, which began in 1890, was the welfare state, which culminated in the 1930s. And we are now, Fogel suggests, in the middle of a fourth awakening, which began in 1950. Fogel argues that the egalitarian platforms of the third awakening have been more or less implemented--the condition of the poorest families in America, he suggests, has improved dramatically; the labor reforms that Social Gospelers called for have been written into law; many people have access to decent health care. In order to make America even more egalitarian, says Fogel, we will need a new agenda. Leaders in the fourth great awakening, he suggests, have emphasized spiritual, rather than material, equity--they are interested in redistributing "spiritual resources" and in helping Americans of all ranks become self-actualized (he identifies spiritual assets as "a sense of purpose, self-esteem, a sense of discipline, a thirst for knowledge"). Fogel applauds the democratizing of self-realization, and he emphasizes the need to provide an education for all; he is especially keen to see more Americans pursuing higher education. Fogel's thesis is provocative, though some readers may question his emphasis on higher education, which he seems to suggest would be a panacea for all America's ills. (May)

Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
In this profound piece of intellectual history, economist and Nobel prize winner Fogel (American studies, Univ. of Chicago) advocates breaking American history up into distinctive religious revivals, or Great Awakenings. Viewing these awakenings as political events, Fogel suggests they represent "the leading edge of an ideological and political response to the accumulated technological, economic, and social changes that undermine the received culture." Focusing on these evangelical religious revivals, he concludes that our era is in the midst of a Fourth Great Awakening. This latest awakening is calling America to develop its spiritual resources to cope with the ethical implications of technological advances like transplantation, gene therapies, and nuclear proliferation. Although one might not agree with all of Fogel's perspectives, he certainly provides a historical and critical structure on which to hang long-term forecasts for American intellectual and social history. Recommended for advanced American studies and religion collections.
-Sandra Collins, Univ. of Pittsburgh
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
"To take a trip around the mind of Robert Fogel, one of the grand old men of American economic history, is a rare treat. At every turning, you come upon some shiny pearl of information." - The Economist "Ideologically refreshing...Fogel's book is remarkable for weaving insights from history, religion, biology, nutrition, demography, economics and even a field called 'technophysio evolution' into an integrated perspective that suggests how the priorities of today's left and right might meld into a powerful new egalitarian agenda to complete the nation's unfinished business." - Matthew Miller, New York Times Book Review "A bold and fascinating argument....Fogel uses the idea of egalitarianism, which he calls our 'national creed,' to see cultural and social transformation through a political lens. If that sounds complicated - and it is - don't worry. Mr. Fogel is equal to his task." - Susan Lee, Wall Street Journal

Customer Reviews

A Nobel Prize for Stupid(2)?
My first review of this book is the Customer Review dated June 6, 2000. Without retracting anything I wrote in that review or my rating of the book, I would like to supplement my first review by suggesting three "entry-points" into the book for serious-minded readers:

(1) Robert Fogel writes on page 180 - '....the reform agenda spelled out by the religious Right......more fully addresses the new issues of egalitarianism than does the Agenda of the Third Great Awakening.' (The T.G.A. being the widespread reforms in America beginning at the end of the nineteenth century which led to the rise of the welfare state and policies to promote diversity.)

Imagine what Mr. Fogel means by the word 'egalitarianism.'

(2) Mr. Fogel writes on page 177 - 'The new equity issues in the United States do not arise from the shocks of rapid urbanization, the destruction of small businesses by competition from industrial giants, the massive destitution created by the prolonged unemployment of up to one-quarter of prime-aged workers, the disappearance of the frontier as a safety valve for urban unemployment and poverty, or the undernutrition and premature death of the great majority of urban workers and their family members. Quite the contrary, the new issues are to a large extent the product of the solutions to these problems achieved by a combination of economic growth and the success of the reforms advocated by the Social Gospelers, their allies, and their successors.'

Imagine what he means by the word 'solutions.'

(3) Mr. Fogel writes on page 10 - 'Technological advances in distilling reduced the costs of spirits and made it possible for the urban poor to afford immoderate amounts of alcohol. Reductions in the cost of ocean transportation brought huge waves of immigrants into American labor markets, lowering wages and promoting urban unemployment.'

Consider the perspective of a 'historian' who acknowledges the massive destitution of last century's immigrant workers and their families in America, but who finds remarkable causally their alcohol consumption and the cheap ocean transportation rates they paid to get here. Consider, that is, whether Mr. Fogel even approaches the status of a historian in writing this book or is simply another social scientist concerned with making astonishingly shallow but verifiable factual observations.

Four stars...
I found Robert Fogel's perspective on the American cyclical progression of political/religious synthesis enlightening, and refreshing.
Fogel's secular views chime in now and then, but they are under a veneer of worldly experience, not biased partisanism.
I particularly found this book useful, (as I am pursuing a political science degree), and revealing pertaining to the history of American society, and the foundation of American government.

Why aren't Americans Happier?
Robert Fogel discusses what he calls 'spiritual inequality", in the hope that the next american spiritual awakening 'fourth great awakening" in American religious Faith will change things. Fogel points ou that change has come in an astonishingy short period, he oints out, technical process has made it possible for almost everyone in the rich world to have food, clothing and shelter: which, a century ago, absorbed 8o% of the average household's consumption. The very meaning of poverty has changed. His book deals with the relationship between, on the one hand, organised religion and its periodic "awakenings", often stimulated by technological change; and, on the other, the political drive of equality. The first "great awakening in the 173os, laid the'Logical basis for the American Revolution, starting in 1800, built up to the abolition of slavery. The "Fourth great wakening" of the book's title is the religious revival that began around 1960. Like the two awakenings, it stressed equality of opportunity. But tis has set it at odds with the third awakening, which began late in the 19th century but cast its shadow throug the 2oth century. Because equality even of opportunity is hard to achieve, it may be that equality of remains forever an unattainable dream. I was disappointed by Fogel's reluctance to go deeper into the religious debate. Will American Christian fundamentalism rise - just as the Islamic one is and roughly as a reaction to modern secular life - and will it clash with secualr Europe?
all in all the book has a worthy purpose but I would have also preferred to see a less 'scientific' or econometric approach. Thomas Frank, Sennett and even Ortega's biography of Sam Walton offer a less theoretical but more compelling view of modern American life.