A Nation of Agents / James E. BLOCK.
2021
E169.1 -- B654 2002eb
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Details
Title
A Nation of Agents / James E. BLOCK.
Author
BLOCK, James E., author.
ISBN
9780674022201
Published
Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, [2021]
Copyright
©2002
Language
English
Language Note
In English.
Description
1 online resource (672 p.)
Other Standard Identifiers
10.4159/9780674022201 doi
Call Number
E169.1 -- B654 2002eb
Dewey Decimal Classification
973
Summary
In this sweeping reinterpretation of American political culture, James Block offers a new perspective on the formation of the modern American self and society. Block roots both self and society in the concept of agency, rather than liberty, and dispenses with the national myth of the "sacred cause of liberty"--with the Declaration of Independence as its "American scripture." Instead, he recovers the early modern conception of agency as the true synthesis emerging from America's Protestant and liberal cultural foundations. Block traces agency doctrine from its pre-Commonwealth English origins through its development into the American mainstream culture on the eve of the twentieth century. The concept of agency that prevailed in the colonies simultaneously released individuals from traditional constraints to participate actively and self-reliantly in social institutions, while confining them within a new set of commitments. Individual initiative was now firmly bounded by the modern values and ends of personal Protestant religiosity and collective liberal institutional authority. As Block shows, this complex relation of self to society lies at the root of the American character. A Nation of Agents is a new reading of what the "first new nation" did and did not achieve. It will enable us to move beyond long-standing national myths and grasp both the American achievement and its legacy for modernity.Table of Contents: Preface 1. The American Narrative in Crisis Part I. The English Origins of the American Self and Society 2. The Early Puritan Insurgents and the Origins of Agency 3. The Protestant Revolutionaries and the Emerging Society of Agents 4. Thomas Hobbes and the Founding of the Liberal Politics of Agency 5. John Locke and the Mythic Society of Free Agents Part II. The Ascendancy of Agency and the First New Nation 6. The Great Awakening and the Emergent Culture of Agency 7. The Revolutionary Triumph of Agency Part III. The Dilemma of Nationhood 8. The Liberal Idyll amidst Republican Realities 9. From the Idyll: Liberation and Reversal in a World without Bounds Part IV. The Creation of an Agency Civilization 10. National Revival as the Crucible of Agency Character 11. From Sectarian Discord to Civil Religion 12. The Protestant Agent in Liberal Economics 13. John Dewey and the Modern Synthesis Conclusion: The Recovery of Agency Notes Index Reviews of this book: A Nation of Agents is a work of extravagant erudition and originality. James E. Block has read voraciously in the sources, seen things that few have seen before, and put them together as none have done before. He sets forth a new view of American culture, threading his thesis through three centuries of American thought and the preceding century of English thinking besides.--Michael Zuckerman, Journal of American HistoryReviews of this book: What a wonder then is James Block's book, a daring master narrative and bracing theoretical exercise of the first order. It promises and delivers nothing less than a fundamental recasting of 'the American path to a modern self and society.'--Robert Westbrook, Christian CenturyReviews of this book: James Block's big, ambitious A Nation of Agents leaves no doubt about its aspirations in the contest to solve the Gordian knot of the relationship between the one and the many in American social thought.The subtlety and acuity with which Block develops these themes through scores of thinkers and over 500 pages can scarcely be exaggerated. A Nation of Agents is a genuinely prodigious work of scholarship.--Daniel T. Rodgers, Modern Intellectual HistoryThis is an original and exciting work of scholarship, in which the idea of agency takes on the characteristics of a deep cultural imperative in American life. Block's agency thesis is at once a genealogy of modern American identity and a theoretical exploration of the horizon within which American political and moral self-reflection is conducted.--Eldon J. Eisenach, The University of TulsaThe most remarkable aspect of this book is the author's ability to weave a single thread -- the thread of "agency" -- through four centuries of Anglo-American intellectual history. Block's great achievement is to propound a new "common theme" to American history. A Nation of Agents is a beacon for scholars seeking a usable past. If ever intellectual history is to regain its prominence in the field of American history it will require works like this.--Harry S. Stout, Yale University
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System Details Note
Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
Digital File Characteristics
text file PDF
Source of Description
Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 21. Apr 2021)
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Table of Contents
Frontmatter
CONTENTS
Preface
1 The American Narrative in Crisis
I The English Origins of the American I Self and Society
2 The Early Puritan Insurgents and the Origins of Agency
3 The Protestant Revolutionaries and the Emerging Society of Agents
4 Thomas Hobbes and the Founding of the Liberal Politics of Agency
5 John Locke and the Mythic Society of Free Agents
II The Ascendancy of Agency and the II First New Nation
6 The Great Awakening and the Emergent Culture of Agency
7 The Revolutionary Triumph of Agency
III The Dilemma of Nationhood
8 The Liberal Idyll amidst Republican Realities
9 From Liberation to Reversal in a World without Bounds
IV The Creation of an Agency Civilization
10 National Revival as the Crucible of Agency Character
11 From Sectarian Discord to Civil Religion
12 The Protestant Agent in Liberal Economics
13 John Dewey and the Modern Synthesis
Conclusion: The Recovery of Agency
Notes
Index
CONTENTS
Preface
1 The American Narrative in Crisis
I The English Origins of the American I Self and Society
2 The Early Puritan Insurgents and the Origins of Agency
3 The Protestant Revolutionaries and the Emerging Society of Agents
4 Thomas Hobbes and the Founding of the Liberal Politics of Agency
5 John Locke and the Mythic Society of Free Agents
II The Ascendancy of Agency and the II First New Nation
6 The Great Awakening and the Emergent Culture of Agency
7 The Revolutionary Triumph of Agency
III The Dilemma of Nationhood
8 The Liberal Idyll amidst Republican Realities
9 From Liberation to Reversal in a World without Bounds
IV The Creation of an Agency Civilization
10 National Revival as the Crucible of Agency Character
11 From Sectarian Discord to Civil Religion
12 The Protestant Agent in Liberal Economics
13 John Dewey and the Modern Synthesis
Conclusion: The Recovery of Agency
Notes
Index