The American Civilizing ProcessISBN: 978-0-7456-3209-4
Paperback
400 pages
October 2007, Polity
Other Available Formats: Hardcover
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Stephen Mennell leads up to such contemporary questions through
a careful study of the whole span of American development, from the
first settlers to the American Empire. He takes a novel approach,
analysing the USA’s experience in the light of Norbert
Elias’s theory of civilizing (and decivilizing)
processes.
Drawing comparisons between the USA and other countries of the
world, the topics discussed include:
- American manners and lifestyles
- Violence in American society
- The impact of markets on American social character
- American expansion, from the frontier to empire
- The ‘curse of the American Dream’ and increasing inequality
- The religiosity of American life
Mennell shows how the long-term experience of Americans has been
of growing more and more powerful in relation to their neighbours.
This has had all-pervasive effects on the way they see themselves,
their perception of the rest of the world, and how the rest of the
world sees them.
Mennell’s compelling and provocative account will appeal to anyone concerned about America's role in the world today, including students and scholars of American politics and society.