Culture Wars: The Struggle To Control The Family, Art, Education, Law, And Politics In America

Basic Books, 1992, Paperback

Product Description

A trenchant commentary on the meaning of the battle between the new religious right and left, and how fundamentalists and progressives are engaged in a moral struggle to control the family, art, education, law, politics, and every aspect of American life.

Product Details

Title: Culture Wars: The Struggle To Control The Family, Art, Education, Law, And Politics In America
Sales Rank: 78974 in Books
Author: James Davison Hunter
Publisher: Basic Books, 1992-10-14, Paperback, 432 pages, ISBN: 0465015344
Package Dimensions: 7.9 x 5 x 1 inches, 1 pounds

Customer Reviews

Missed the biggest point: I understand that Hunter is focusing on trends in religion, but he does discuss the origins of the polarization we call the "culture wars". How he manages to do this without mentioning the Civil War or the Civil Rights struggles of the 1950's-60's is beyond me. Yes, there were "orthodox" and "progressive" tensions before Brown vs Board of Ed (mentioned in passing on page 22), but when the… More reviews

Culture Wars: Few of us, I think it's safe to say, question the truism that contemporary culture chatters like an activated geiger counter, emitting danger signals, signs of ominous decay if not collapse. But finding thoughtful analyses (rather than off-hand journalistic impressions) of the situation is frequently difficult. So James Davison Hunter, a sociologist at the University of Virginia, rendered us sizeable service in Culture Wars:… More reviews

A Prescient Analysis of the Current Liberal/Conservative Landscape in America: James Davison Hunter, a professor of sociology and religious studies at the University of Virginia, appears prescient in this 1992 book about the emergence of a religious conservatism in the United States that will dominate the political agenda through its emphasis on certain traditional values. He frames this as a "culture war" over the meaning of America and its place in the world. He found… More reviews

A wide-angle view on American society...: Though the book was published originally published in 1991, it is no wonder that this book is still in print: it is as relevant as ever - and I daresay its relevance is increasing again.
In this book, Hunter gives us a wide-angle view of what is going on in American society since the second half of the twentieth century. Hunter argues that there is a culture war going on. Consequently,… More reviews

Still Relevent and Timely After All These Years!: The title of my review refers to the fact that this book, while published in '91, is still quite an accurate portrayal of how the culture wars are conducted. The passing of 13 years and tenure of two presidents has not served to ameliorate the culture war between 'traditionalists' and 'progressives.' Hunter, then, was certainly right.
Hunter's main thesis with… More reviews