Book Review

Review of American society today

"American society today" is a book which was written in 8 chapters in English by Edward Ashbee.He is the head of Social Studies at Denstone College, Staffordshire. Ashbee is also the co-author of US Politics Today and The Politics Today Companion to American Government. The book was published by Manchester University Press in 160 pages, paperback with ISBN 07190 6022 2 in 2002 in Manchester and New York. This book can be considered as a basic work which presents complete and basic knowledge about American society and can be suggested to those who want to know about different aspects of American society. The language of the book is not complicated; also the tables and extra information in the silver bulks helps the readers to understand more about the intention of the writer. American society today tries to define the features of contemporary American society and it provides an introduction to the US for students of American Studies, politics and sociology, as well as general readers. The book follows with the points to perform different images of the US-especially in the 1980s - in the mind of Europeans. He also writes about "Some of the cruder Representations" of the US which has been subsequently modified. Television channels with different programs about the American life were empathetic across the world to the events of September 11, 2001. The book starts its description from Europe; the popular representation of the US often falls back upon crude caricature. Although there is admiration on the country's resources as well as it's technological and economic capabilities, US society and the American character have won few sympathetic portrayals in Britain indeed and there has long been a degree of latent hostility to the US that is shared by both right and left parties. In particular historical moments, it has become manifest. Later in the book there are other examples: "Martin Carthy, the celebrated English folk musician, received some widely shared sentiments. In one of his songs he lampooned the US, citing its 'stone age finesse', ' Neanderthal pride', corrupt self-serving politicians and instinctive imperialism" After these descriptions the book attempts to construct a counterweight to these by considering the defining features of American society in a balanced way. This book has been written in 8 chapters: American exceptionalism - the American dream and the modern economy - individualism and conformity - communities, civic decline and "bowling alone" - the family, sex and sexuality - race, ethnicity, and "balkanization" - one nation indivisible: the American regions - conclusion: September 11, and its aftermath. Chapter 1 examines the distinctive character of American society and the ways in which it can be considered exceptional. This chapter contains several subtitles like "The melting pot", "a fragment culture", "The American creed", "The exceptionalism of America's national purpose", try to conceptualize the term of exceptionalism. In this chapter the writer expresses that the US followed a separate and distinct path of development and there are, however, different ways of understanding American exceptionalism. He also writes: "Some have cited the character of the American people and the role or the ' melting pot'. Others stress the role of the westward frontier in shaping the American character, the class origins of the American colonies and the absence of a mass socialist party." In chapter 2 the author stresses the concept of the nature of the "American dream", its promise of upward mobility, and the nature of the contemporary American economy. He also points it out that there is conflicting empirical evidence and much of the data suggests that the rates of mobility are limited, particularly for women and minorities: " .... The unequal distribution of income and wealth has considerable significance. Actually, there are many talks on the underclass and over class. While some hailed the new economy of the late 1990s as a revolutionary shift in the character of economic opportunities, the claims were often exaggerated...." The writer also tries to justify his claims through some tables with statistical information. The concept of the characteristics of American individualism is the main topic of chapter 3. According to the subjects which are debated in this section, American individualism traditionally incorporated notions of freedom and a willingness to confront established order. Although these still find a place in popular culture, there have been recurrent fears that individualism is being suppressed by modernization. The extent to which American identity also rests upon attachments to family, neighborhood and nation forms the matter of chapter 4. Alongside individualism, individuals have traditionally had ties binding them to their families, neighborhoods and the US itself. In the beginning of this Chapter author indicates an important study, Bowling Alone, in which Robert Putnam argues that there has been a process of civic disengagement. The family, sex and sexuality are debated in chapter 5: "Although the traditional family -structured around a male breadwinner and a "stay-at-home" mother - is sometimes represented as social norms, it is instead a function of particular periods and circumstances...... social behavior have had a more conservative character." "African-Americans" , "Latinos", "Asian-pacific-Americans", "Whites', 'language", "Balkanization", are main subtitles of chapter 6 which and the writer examines the role of ethnicity, race, and other social cleavages. He talks about America as a multicultural and fragmented society. Chapter 7 examines the differences between the regions and the degree to which the US is - in the words of the Pledge of Allegiance - "one nation indivisible". The author argues that although some have asserted that economic and political processes have created a centraliseded nation, regional differences can still be discerned and adds that other factors - most notably mass immigration and the processes of both industrialization and deindustrialization - also have shaped the contemporary regional structure. Finally, the last chapter has been devoted to the September 11 attacks on twin towers of the World Trade Center and Pentagon in New York and Washington DC. Also, there is some about other consequences most notably the degree of political consensus. American society today considers these debates and assesses the different perspectives that have been put forward.

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