{"product_id":"the-masterless-self-and-society-in-modern-america","title":"The Masterless: Self and Society in Modern America","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn this provocative book  Wilfred McClay considers the long-standing tension between individualism and social cohesion in conceptions of American culture. Exploring ideas of unity and diversity as they have evolved since the Civil War  he illuminates the historical background to our ongoing search for social connectedness and sources of authority in a society increasingly dominated by the premises of individualism. McClay borrows D. H. Lawrences term masterless men -- extending its meaning to women as well -- and argues that it is expressive of both the promise and the peril inherent in the modern American social order.  Drawing upon a wide range of disciplines -- including literature  sociology  political science  philosophy  psychology  and feminist theory -- McClay identifies a competition between visions of dispersion on the one hand and coalescence on the other as modes of social organization. In addition  he employs intellectual biography to illuminate the intersection of these ideas with the personal experiences of the thinkers articulating them and shows how these shifting visions are manifestations of a more general ambivalence about the process of national integration and centralization that has characterized modern American economic  political  and cultural life.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44945881366581,"sku":"ByrdShop_0807844195","price":26.54,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780807844199.jpg?v=1769913440","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-masterless-self-and-society-in-modern-america","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}