North American Sociology, Economic Forecasting, Economic Policies in the United States, U.S. Politics & Government - 1992-2001, Economics & Finance, 20th Century American History - Social Aspects - General & Miscellaneous, Labor Studies - General & Miscel
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Overview
The year is 2012. David Reynolds is a college sophomore whose Thanksgiving weekend assignment is to conduct several interviews with his parents, in order to understand how they and their generation managed to reconstruct the American political system in the sixteen short years between 1996 and 2012. He uses as his starting point the New Declaration of Independence of the Fourth of July, 2000, and explores first how it came about and then how its commitments were steadily achieved in the following years through sustained middle-class mobilization, electronic communication, a series of practical and populist constitutional changes, and a prosperity-restoring, middle class-oriented economic nationalist policy program. In his final paper (excerpted in the epilogue), David marvels at the dedication and resourcefulness of his parents and their peers, and speculates about what his world would be like if they had failed to take up the challenge to reconstruct their country and restore the future for themselves and their children. But the fictional theme is only about a quarter of the content here. The rest is data-grounded analysis of the major problems of the United States today and the Third World future they will bring about without fundamental change in our political party and representative systems. Dolbeare and Hubbell follow up this grim portrait with a provocative and credible vision of how a determined middle class could assert popular control over the big money, selfish politicians, and special interests that now dominate the American political system. The middle class is seen as systematically victimized by bipartisan public policy for the past thirty years which in turn has been enabled by its own passivity, acceptance of scapegoating diversions, and "false patriotism" - refusal to look critically at traditional American beliefs and practices and selectively modernize them to fit changing needs and conditions. The heart of the book is the vision of a reconsEditorials
Booknews
This thin volume is a pocket guide to understanding symbols found in organizations, and the methodologies to study them. Jones (folklore and history, U. of California) demonstrates specific techniques for identifying and examining various symbolic "domains" such as office architecture, workplace jargon, corridor art, and executive suite folktales. The questions is left to the reader whether the symbols grow from tradition or power, and so is interesting in its nascent inquiry into the nearly unconscious constructs of a working life. Lacks an index. Paper edition (0220-1), $9.50. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)Book Details
Published
January 1, 1996
Publisher
Chatham, N.J. : Chatham House Publishers, c1996.
Pages
190
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9781566430364