With a new afterword by the author, this classic analysis of Western liberal capitalist society contends that capitalism—and the culture it creates—harbors the seeds of its own downfall by creating a need among successful people for personal gratification—a need that corrodes the work ethic that led to their success in the first place. With the end of the Cold War and the emergence of a new world order, this provocative manifesto is more relevant than ever.
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About the Author
Daniel Bell is the Henry Ford II Professor of Social Sciences Emeritus at Harvard University and Scholar-in-Residence at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is the author of editor of 17 books, two of which, The End of Ideology and The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism, were listed among the 100 Most Influential Books since the Second World War (TLS, October 1995).
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75 of 80 people found the following review helpful
By Mandamus
Format:Paperback
Daniel Bell's book highlights trends in modern Western culture that tend to go unnoticed, to our own detriment. Namely, that the driving forces that created modernity have been left unchecked to reach the negative end of their logical conclusions. The "Protestant work ethic" has been abandoned for hedonistic consumerism, and traditional cultural values have been eroded by egoism and nihilism. Very, very important points that we, as a society, need to think consciously and act decisively about. In this sense, CULTURAL CONTRADITCTIONS is an important book.
However, the book is far from perfect. One of the most irritating aspects of this book is that it focuses primarily on art. Bell spends far too much time lamenting the demise of--what I guess you could call--"classicism" or traditionalism in art. Intellectually interesting in its own right, but much of this discussion should have been left for another book.
Second, while Bell does a great job dissecting the problems, he is pretty scanty on solutions. He offers the tradional ineffectual intellectual solutions such as returing to "traditional" values and a renunciation of unrestrained consumerism.
Not surprisingly, he also calls for a return to religion. Religion is, after all, a significant pillar in Western culture, despite increasing secularism. Even if everyone stoped going to church or synagogue, we would still tacitly adhere to a kind of Judeo-Christian value system. Interestingly for someone so interested in religion, Bell ignores the contradiction in the "bourgeois establishment's" emphasis on religion--with its concern for the poor, the needy, and the spiritual realm--with our culture's obsession with the rich, the beautiful, and the profane. Would have made for an interesting discussion.
Bell makes a big to-do about the "Protestant work ethic" and how much it helped create our culture, but in the afterword says that there really is no such thing historically, but rather it is a useful model created by sociologists when working retrospectively. Kind of a contradiction itself, n'est-ce pas?
In the end, it is a very important--and influential--book. It is intellectually stimulating, and is the stuff of some great 2am converstations. I would recommend it to just about anybody, but only after mentioning that it is niether a perfect nor an exhaustive analysis.
However, the book is far from perfect. One of the most irritating aspects of this book is that it focuses primarily on art. Bell spends far too much time lamenting the demise of--what I guess you could call--"classicism" or traditionalism in art. Intellectually interesting in its own right, but much of this discussion should have been left for another book.
Second, while Bell does a great job dissecting the problems, he is pretty scanty on solutions. He offers the tradional ineffectual intellectual solutions such as returing to "traditional" values and a renunciation of unrestrained consumerism.
Not surprisingly, he also calls for a return to religion. Religion is, after all, a significant pillar in Western culture, despite increasing secularism. Even if everyone stoped going to church or synagogue, we would still tacitly adhere to a kind of Judeo-Christian value system. Interestingly for someone so interested in religion, Bell ignores the contradiction in the "bourgeois establishment's" emphasis on religion--with its concern for the poor, the needy, and the spiritual realm--with our culture's obsession with the rich, the beautiful, and the profane. Would have made for an interesting discussion.
Bell makes a big to-do about the "Protestant work ethic" and how much it helped create our culture, but in the afterword says that there really is no such thing historically, but rather it is a useful model created by sociologists when working retrospectively. Kind of a contradiction itself, n'est-ce pas?
In the end, it is a very important--and influential--book. It is intellectually stimulating, and is the stuff of some great 2am converstations. I would recommend it to just about anybody, but only after mentioning that it is niether a perfect nor an exhaustive analysis.
15 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Classic study by an outstanding scholar covering many interesting topics and issues in modern American society. As Bell has noted, America is a country where seemingly paradoxical cultural traits often find happy marriages, and to some extent, even happier divorces. He doesn't mention this, but Japan is an example of another country where this often occurs. Although the U.S. and Japan are very different, they share a common ability to incorporate useful and pragmatic cultural ideas and traits even if they are in conflict with the dominant ideology. We Americans are a practical people, after all. :-) Bell's knowledge of many important sociologists and other thinkers is deep, and he is able to use their insights in novel and creative ways. I also found his discussion of The Young Intellectuals at Harvard, such as Van Wyck Brooks, and their criticisms of middle American culture, such as the boring mediocrity of "Bourgeois sex," to be quite entertaining. My only fault with the book is Bell's style may be a little bit forbidding for some people, but a little patience here is more than rewarded. Qualitative sociology doesn't get any better than this.
By Andrew
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
He thought about issues in the 1970s that are affecting the country now. Great perspective on a relative topic because he explains the intuitive/historial thinking or the problem, rather than just the current economic situation
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Cultural Contradictionsof Captalism
He put a perspectivee on the historical aspects of several diciplines,whichmade them all havea new perspective for me. I enjoyed it.
Published 4 months ago by judith woodrd
3.0 out of 5 stars
Annoying writing, disagreeable argument
In the Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism, Daniel Bell argues that modernism has reached a point of crisis, and that the values that supported capitalism are going to... Read more
Published on December 21, 2007 by Defenestrate
3.0 out of 5 stars
Thought Provoking, but...UGH!
This is a interesting book, but has a few major flaws that detract from the book as a whole. Among other things, the language is a problem. Read more
Published on February 6, 2000 by "javierhidalgo"
5.0 out of 5 stars
A thoughtful and detailed analysis of modernity
The first thing you realize when reading the Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism is that Daniel Bell is smarter than you. Read more
Published on April 24, 1999
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 100
books:
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100
books
cite this book:
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- The Sociology of Religion by Max Weber in Front Matter, page 82, and page 166
- The Banquet Years: The Origins of the Avant-Garde in France - 1885 to World War I by Roger Shattuck on page 113, page 119, and page 121
- The Principles of Morals and Legislation (Great Books in Philosophy) by Jeremy Bentham in Front Matter, and page 257
- The Protestant Ethic And the Spirit of Capitalism by Gilbert Geis on page 58, and Back Matter
- The Birth of Tragedy (Dover Thrift Editions) by Friedrich Nietzsche on page 4, and page 50
See all 100 books this book cites
- The Post-Modern and the Post-Industrial: A Critical Analysis by Margaret A. Rose on 9 pages
- The Double Helix: Technology and Democracy in the American Future (Civic Discourse for the Third Millennium) by E. Wenk Jr. on 4 pages
- The Digital Sublime: Myth, Power, and Cyberspace by Vincent Mosco on 4 pages
- Cultural Economy: Cultural Analysis and Commercial Life (Culture, Representation and Identity series) by Paul du Gay on page 36, page 37, and page 75
- The Substance of Style: How the Rise of Aesthetic Value Is Remaking Commerce, Culture, and Consciousness (P.S.) by Virginia Postrel on page 68, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
See all 100 books citing this book
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