Andrew Hartman

What were the culture wars all about? Through the 1980s and 1990s, politics, art, media, schools, and the culture at large were roiled by seemingly unending public battles over gender, race, sexuality, music, and religion.A War for the Soul of America is the first full-scale intellectual history of this period, tracing the histories and influences of key figures, institutions, publications, and alliances--from the Moral Majority and the NEA Four to Madonna and William F. Buckley. Hartman argues that these conflicts were not cynical sideshows that obscured larger economic and political revolutions; rather, he sees them as the key ways in which Americans came to terms with changing demographics, communities, and conceptions of American identity. Hartman's balanced and fair-minded assessment of the time before Fox News and Lady Gaga will change the way you look at public controversies of all kinds.

A History of the Culture Wars

A War for the Soul of America

What were the culture wars all about? Through the 1980s and 1990s, politics, art, media, schools, and the culture at large were roiled by seemingly unending public battles over gender, race, sexuality, music, and religion. "A War for the Soul of America" is the first full-scale intellectual history of this period, tracing the histories and influences of key figures, institutions, publications, and alliances--from the Moral Majority and the NEA Four to Madonna and William F. Buckley. Hartman argues that these conflicts were not cynical sideshows that obscured larger economic and political revolutions; rather, he sees them as the key ways in which Americans came to terms with changing demographics, communities, and conceptions of American identity. Hartman s balanced and fair-minded assessment of the time before Fox News and Lady Gaga will change the way you look at public controversies of all kinds."

Gale Researcher Guide for: The Cold War is selected from Gale's academic platform Gale Researcher. These study guides provide peer-reviewed articles that allow students early success in finding scholarly materials and to gain the confidence and vocabulary needed to pursue deeper research.

Gale Researcher Guide for: The Cold War

عندما أعلن باتريك بوكانان "الحرب من أجل روح أمريكا" في المؤتمر الجمهوريّ الوطني عام 1992، فَهِمَ كل من سمعه أنه كان يقصد الحروب الثقافيّة التي كانت قد احتدمت طوال العقد الماضي، وسوف تستمر حتى نهاية القرن. اتسم ذلك العصر بالاستقطاب وتأليب المحافظين ضد الليبراليين والعلمانيين، وبالمواقف التي يغذيها الغضب العميق وعدم الاستقرار. كان خطاب بوكانان الناري نقطة مهمة في الحروب الثقافية، ولكن كما يُظهِرُ هارتمان في هذا الكتاب التحليليّ الغنيّ، كانت جذور الحروب الثقافية أبعد من ذلك، منذ اضطرابات الستينيّات، كما أن أهميتها أكبر بكثير مما يفترضه الناس عمومًا. يجادل هارتمان أن الحروب الثقافية أكثر من مجرد نقاش جانبيّ، بل كانت الثيمة المميِزة لأمريكا في تلك الفترة بسبب التغيرات الاجتماعية غير المسبوقة، حيث بدأت مجموعة القواعد الاجتماعية التي كانت تحكم الحياة الأمريكية لفترة طويلة في التهاوي وخلق أفكار وهويات ومفاهيم وقيم أمريكية جديدة. هيمنت القضايا الجدليّة مثل: الإجهاض والفن والرقابة والنسوية والمثلية الجنسية على السياسة الأمريكية في تلك الفترة، كانت تلك هي أعراض النضال الكبير، بينما بدأ المحافظون والدينيون ببطء في الاعتراف، وإن بدا أنه رفض في البداية، بالتحولات الأساسية للحياة الأمريكية. لم تكن أمريكا قط أكثر حزبيّة وتنوعًا في الوقت نفسه مما هي عليه الآن، "حرب من أجل روح أمريكا" يوضح بالتفصيل كيف وصلت أمريكا إلى هذه المرحلة، ويشرح باستفاضة تاريخ كل تلك الحروب الثقافية.

A war for the soul of America

حرب من أجل روح أمريكا

Gale Researcher Guide for: The Twenties is selected from Gale's academic platform Gale Researcher. These study guides provide peer-reviewed articles that allow students early success in finding scholarly materials and to gain the confidence and vocabulary needed to pursue deeper research.

Gale Researcher Guide for: The Twenties

Raymond Haberski, Jr.

Intellectual history has never been more relevant and more important to public life in the United States. In complicated and confounding times, people look for the principles that drive action and the foundations that support national ideals. American Labyrinth demonstrates the power of intellectual history to illuminate our public life and examine our ideological assumptions. This volume of essays brings together 19 influential intellectual historians to contribute original thoughts on topics of widespread interest. Raymond Haberski Jr. and Andrew Hartman asked a group of nimble, sharp scholars to respond to a simple question: How might the resources of intellectual history help shed light on contemporary issues with historical resonance? The answers—all rigorous, original, and challenging—are as eclectic in approach and temperament as the authors are different in their interests and methods. Taken together, the essays of American Labyrinth illustrate how intellectual historians, operating in many different registers at once and ranging from the theoretical to the political, can provide telling insights for understanding a public sphere fraught with conflict. In order to understand why people are ready to fight over cultural symbols and political positions we must have insight into how ideas organize, enliven, and define our lives. Ultimately, as Haberski and Hartman show in this volume, the best route through our contemporary American labyrinth is the path that traces our practical and lived ideas.

Andrew Hartman

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