A World Made Safe for Differences - Cold War Intellectuals and the Politics of Identity

In A World Made Safe for Differences, Christopher Shannon examines how an anthropological definition of culture shaped the central political and social narratives of the Cold War era. In the middle decades of the twentieth century, American intellectuals understood culture as a 'whole way of life' and a 'pattern of values' in order to account for and accommodate differences between America and other countries, and within America itself. Shannon locates the ideological origins of current debates about multiculturalism in the pluralist thought of 'consensus' liberalism. The emphasis on individualism in contemporary identity politics, Shannon suggests, must be understood as a legacy of the Cold War liberalism of the 1950s rather than the counter-culture radicalism of the 1960s.

About the author

By Christopher Shannon

Summary

This work examines how an anthropological definition of culture shaped the central political and social narratives of the Cold War era. The author suggests that the emphasis on individualism in contemporary identity politics must be understood as a legacy of the Cold War liberalism of the 1950s.

Product details

• Authors: Christopher Shannon, Shannon Christopher
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 20.12.2000
• EAN: 9780847690572
• ISBN: 978-0-8476-9057-2
• Dimensions: 156 mm x 237 mm x 19 mm
• Weight: 399 g
• Series: American Intellectual Culture; American Intellectual Culture
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Cultural history; Social sciences, law, business > Sociology > Sociological theories; Sozial- und Kulturgeschichte, HISTORY / Americas (North, Central, South, West Indies), SOCIAL SCIENCE / Minority Studies, HISTORY / World, HISTORY / Social History, Social & cultural history, 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999, Social and cultural history, Ethnic groups and multicultural studies, General and world history, Ethnic minorities & multicultural studies, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Biracial & Multiracial Studies