Larson, Edward J. Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion. New York: BasicBooks, 1997.
Argument
Split into 3 parts, Larson surveys the before, during, and after of the Scopes Trial, rightly marking it as a pivotal and representative moment in the clash between traditional, literal theology and science and modernity. Larson uses his knowledge of law and history to trace the legal arguments of the two sides in the test case brought through the efforts of the resurgent ACLU. "While the prosecution wished to defend the right of legislatures to control the schools and their curriculum and to discredit the theory of evolution, defense attorneys sought to defend individual freedom and scientific authority and to discount biblical literalism." (JAH review)
Larson raises other conflicts revealed by the case. North-South, rural economies-New South urban, changes in evangelicalism, Progressive era transformation.
Larson traces the resonance of the case through history, through literature and the play "Inherit the Wind." Cases finally reached the Supreme Court in the 1960s where Justice Fortas, who grew up in Tenn in the 1920s, fought for the overturn of the laws. Evangelicals retreated from the debate until the 1980s.
Showing posts with label 1920s. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1920s. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Kennedy - Over Here
Kennedy, David M. Over Here: The First World War and American Society. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004 [1980].
Argument
Into WWI, Wilson led a nation that was quite divided over fighting the war. Even Congress was shocked at his decision to draft an American Expeditionary Force to take part in the fighting. Thus, George Creel's Committee on Public Information served a crucial role in propaganda. Mobilization required the growth of temporary war administrations: the Treasury, the Food Administration, and the War Industries Board. Despite the growth of government, Wilson was careful not to trample on any free market principles.
Kennedy is surprisingly dismissive of America's role in the war, emphasizing the weaknesses stemming from their lack of experience and undisciplined military leaders. In the experience of the war itself for the doughboys, most were too late and moved too swiftly to gain the disillusionment which typified the writing of European soldiers and American anti-war, neo-isolationists in the 1920s and 30s.
Part of Wilson's failure at Versailles was the political liabilities he accrued at home as a consequence of his war management. The Armistice was one of disappointment for Wilson, as well as those who believed and hoped in his idealism. The La Follette campaign for presidency in 1924 showed that progressivism had not completely lost its energy. Its labor elements had lost its cohesiveness, but the reform impulse remained, still hopeful on the possibilities of shaping a brighter future, though that future might be a few decades down the road.
Kennedy argues "make the world safe for Democracy" has remained America's foreign policy mission statement since then.
Finally, the war marked the beginning of the end of British economic supremacy, and the end of the beginning of the US economic supremacy.
Interpretations
Review: Robert D Cuff, JAH
"Kennedy suggests, moreover, that as a cultural phenomenon the war crisis reveals a number of core American social values, including a deeply rooted suspicion of concentrated public power and a bias toward voluntarism in the construction of social institutions." In other words, its about national character.
Review: John Syrett
"For Progressives...the war provided an opportunity to realize a collective identity which could later be directed at the obvious ills, like inequality, within society. It was upon these grounds that they agreed to support Wilson. And it is here, Kennedy asserts, Progressivism began to die, for Wilson had no interest in using the government for much beyond whipping up patriotism..." Kennedy seems to suggest Wilson had little vision or leadership, at least as far as the war administration-side went...he acquiesces toward the restrictions of freedom, rather than propose or deny them.
Importance for Overall Trends
Kennedy explains the growth of the government as a feature of Wilson's mobilization, not as a result of Progressivism (since so many traditional progressives opposed the war). Further, Wilson was very careful not to over-expand the federal government and the powers under the executive branch beyond a point he could afford politically. The administration "avoided unilateral exercises of government power; they sought the barest minimum of statutory bodies; the doggedly diffused administrative responsibility; they relied wherever possible on the timehonored principle of contractual agreement; and they affirmed repeatedly the temporary character of those few naked instruments of authority they were reluctantly required to grasp." (143) Still, Wilson's creations served an important precedent for FDR.
Argument
Into WWI, Wilson led a nation that was quite divided over fighting the war. Even Congress was shocked at his decision to draft an American Expeditionary Force to take part in the fighting. Thus, George Creel's Committee on Public Information served a crucial role in propaganda. Mobilization required the growth of temporary war administrations: the Treasury, the Food Administration, and the War Industries Board. Despite the growth of government, Wilson was careful not to trample on any free market principles.
Kennedy is surprisingly dismissive of America's role in the war, emphasizing the weaknesses stemming from their lack of experience and undisciplined military leaders. In the experience of the war itself for the doughboys, most were too late and moved too swiftly to gain the disillusionment which typified the writing of European soldiers and American anti-war, neo-isolationists in the 1920s and 30s.
Part of Wilson's failure at Versailles was the political liabilities he accrued at home as a consequence of his war management. The Armistice was one of disappointment for Wilson, as well as those who believed and hoped in his idealism. The La Follette campaign for presidency in 1924 showed that progressivism had not completely lost its energy. Its labor elements had lost its cohesiveness, but the reform impulse remained, still hopeful on the possibilities of shaping a brighter future, though that future might be a few decades down the road.
Kennedy argues "make the world safe for Democracy" has remained America's foreign policy mission statement since then.
Finally, the war marked the beginning of the end of British economic supremacy, and the end of the beginning of the US economic supremacy.
Interpretations
Review: Robert D Cuff, JAH
"Kennedy suggests, moreover, that as a cultural phenomenon the war crisis reveals a number of core American social values, including a deeply rooted suspicion of concentrated public power and a bias toward voluntarism in the construction of social institutions." In other words, its about national character.
Review: John Syrett
"For Progressives...the war provided an opportunity to realize a collective identity which could later be directed at the obvious ills, like inequality, within society. It was upon these grounds that they agreed to support Wilson. And it is here, Kennedy asserts, Progressivism began to die, for Wilson had no interest in using the government for much beyond whipping up patriotism..." Kennedy seems to suggest Wilson had little vision or leadership, at least as far as the war administration-side went...he acquiesces toward the restrictions of freedom, rather than propose or deny them.
Importance for Overall Trends
Kennedy explains the growth of the government as a feature of Wilson's mobilization, not as a result of Progressivism (since so many traditional progressives opposed the war). Further, Wilson was very careful not to over-expand the federal government and the powers under the executive branch beyond a point he could afford politically. The administration "avoided unilateral exercises of government power; they sought the barest minimum of statutory bodies; the doggedly diffused administrative responsibility; they relied wherever possible on the timehonored principle of contractual agreement; and they affirmed repeatedly the temporary character of those few naked instruments of authority they were reluctantly required to grasp." (143) Still, Wilson's creations served an important precedent for FDR.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Marchand - Advertising the American Dream
Marchand, Roland. Advertising the American Dream: Making Way for Modernity, 1920-1940. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985.
Argument
In the 1920s and 30s the advertising industry in America boomed. Marchand studies advertisements from the period (and the men who created them) in an attempt to understand what they can (and can't) tell us about American society as a whole. The title indicates two key parts to Marchand's argument. First, he credits advertising as playing a key role in shaping American consumer values that would resonate with the middle class after World War II. Second, he argues advertising men (and they were mostly affluent white men) saw themselves as serving society by advancing the benefits of modernity.
Key Terms
Modernity - Essentially, "progress;" advertisers saw themselves as "town criers" for new technology, styles, and ways of life. (1) Marchand also notes the heavy influence of modern art on advertising design.
Uplift - Recognizing that the masses of consumers to which they were advertising occupied a lower status on the socio-cultural-intellectual scale than they, some members of the advertising elite saw their role as affecting improvement among the American masses on these terms. Skilled advertisers could find a way to communicate with the ignorant masses and offer them products and services that might improve their life and, in the long run, improve their minds.
Social Tableau - a category of advertisements that depict several persons and their relationship to each other, thus offering a glimpse of the perceived social structure.
Studying Advertising to Understand Society as a Whole
The careful yet nonetheless evocative ways Marchand used advertising as sources was interesting for my own desire to use film and television as sources. The social tableau chapter was one example.
He also identified several "great parables" used as a formula for many advertisements. Marchand argues these parables "reinforced (and even encouraged conversions to) a modern, secular 'logic of living'..." (207). They "subtly redefin[ed] the terms of [the American dream]" as "the older values of discipline, character-building, self-restraint, and production-oriented achievement were subordinated to the newer values of pleasure, external appearance, and achievement through consumption." (234) Thus, advertising played an important role not only reflecting but inspiring the shift in American values of the 20th century. In the final chapter, Marchand goes on to show how by the end of the period advertising methods were firmly engaged in offering therapeutic solutions to the dilemmas of modern life.
Marchand also identifies several common cliches in advertising, such as "the office window" portraying the male CEO surveying his domain and "the family circle" demonstrating the relationship between father, mother, and children. He suggests such cliches can be useful in understanding values of the age.
He also explore depression era developments in advertising, revealing shifting tactics. Advertisers strove to emphasize the equalizing power of consumerism, as well as the dangers of ill-advised purchasing decisions.
The Morgan Memorial "Deja Vu - You've Seen this Before"
Cohen-Consumer's Republic - This is something of a prequel to Cohen with a more specific focus. Advertisers in the 20s and 30s were laying the groundwork and fighting for the shift to a "Consumer's Republic" of purchaser consumers who saw their buying power as a way to self-improvement rather than community- or national- improvement. According to Marchand, advertisers painted a picture of consumption as the secret to individual and family happiness relative to individuals and families around them, rather than consumption as a way to improve the wealth of the nation as a whole.
Critique
Well-written, clear and interesting. Marchand was also able to include numerous black-and-white and color examples throughout the pages that really drive his point home. His chapters are nicely organized and accessible. His methods are clear and his argument is well-made.
Argument
In the 1920s and 30s the advertising industry in America boomed. Marchand studies advertisements from the period (and the men who created them) in an attempt to understand what they can (and can't) tell us about American society as a whole. The title indicates two key parts to Marchand's argument. First, he credits advertising as playing a key role in shaping American consumer values that would resonate with the middle class after World War II. Second, he argues advertising men (and they were mostly affluent white men) saw themselves as serving society by advancing the benefits of modernity.
Key Terms
Modernity - Essentially, "progress;" advertisers saw themselves as "town criers" for new technology, styles, and ways of life. (1) Marchand also notes the heavy influence of modern art on advertising design.
Uplift - Recognizing that the masses of consumers to which they were advertising occupied a lower status on the socio-cultural-intellectual scale than they, some members of the advertising elite saw their role as affecting improvement among the American masses on these terms. Skilled advertisers could find a way to communicate with the ignorant masses and offer them products and services that might improve their life and, in the long run, improve their minds.
Social Tableau - a category of advertisements that depict several persons and their relationship to each other, thus offering a glimpse of the perceived social structure.
Studying Advertising to Understand Society as a Whole
The careful yet nonetheless evocative ways Marchand used advertising as sources was interesting for my own desire to use film and television as sources. The social tableau chapter was one example.
He also identified several "great parables" used as a formula for many advertisements. Marchand argues these parables "reinforced (and even encouraged conversions to) a modern, secular 'logic of living'..." (207). They "subtly redefin[ed] the terms of [the American dream]" as "the older values of discipline, character-building, self-restraint, and production-oriented achievement were subordinated to the newer values of pleasure, external appearance, and achievement through consumption." (234) Thus, advertising played an important role not only reflecting but inspiring the shift in American values of the 20th century. In the final chapter, Marchand goes on to show how by the end of the period advertising methods were firmly engaged in offering therapeutic solutions to the dilemmas of modern life.
Marchand also identifies several common cliches in advertising, such as "the office window" portraying the male CEO surveying his domain and "the family circle" demonstrating the relationship between father, mother, and children. He suggests such cliches can be useful in understanding values of the age.
He also explore depression era developments in advertising, revealing shifting tactics. Advertisers strove to emphasize the equalizing power of consumerism, as well as the dangers of ill-advised purchasing decisions.
The Morgan Memorial "Deja Vu - You've Seen this Before"
Cohen-Consumer's Republic - This is something of a prequel to Cohen with a more specific focus. Advertisers in the 20s and 30s were laying the groundwork and fighting for the shift to a "Consumer's Republic" of purchaser consumers who saw their buying power as a way to self-improvement rather than community- or national- improvement. According to Marchand, advertisers painted a picture of consumption as the secret to individual and family happiness relative to individuals and families around them, rather than consumption as a way to improve the wealth of the nation as a whole.
Critique
Well-written, clear and interesting. Marchand was also able to include numerous black-and-white and color examples throughout the pages that really drive his point home. His chapters are nicely organized and accessible. His methods are clear and his argument is well-made.
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