Alva and Gunnar Myrdal: Social Engineering in the Modern World
Thomas Etzemüller
ISBN 10: 0739188747 ISBN 13: 9780739188743
Published by Lexington Books, 2014
Used
hardcover
From
Midtown Scholar Bookstore, Harrisburg, PA, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
AbeBooks Seller since 7 June 2002
This specific item is no longer available.
About this Item
Description:
No DJ as issued No dust jacket. Very Good hardcover with light shelfwear - NICE! Standard-sized. Seller Inventory # mon0000180682
Synopsis:
As two of the leading social scientists of the twentieth century, Alva and Gunnar Myrdal tried to establish a harmonious, “organic” Gemeinschaft [community] in order to fight an assumed disintegration of modern society. By means of functionalist architecture and by educating “sensible” citizens, disciplining bodies, and reorganizing social relationships they attempted to intervene in the lives of ordinary men. The paradox of this task was to modernize society in order to defend it against an “ambivalent modernity.” This combination of Weltanschauung [world view], social science, and technical devices became known as social engineering.
The Myrdals started in the early 1930s with Sweden, and then chose the world as their working field. In 1938, Gunnar Myrdal was asked to solve the “negro problem” in the United States, and, in the 1970s, Alva Myrdal campaigned for the world's super powers to abolish all of their nuclear weapons. The Myrdals successfully established their own modern American marriage as a media image and role model for reform. Far from perfect, their marriage was disrupted by numerous conflicts, mirrored in thousands of private letters. This marital conflict propelled their urge for social reform by exposing the need for the elimination of irrational conflicts from everyday life. A just society, according to the Myrdals, would merge social expertise with everyday life, and ordinary men with the intellectually elite.
Thomas Etzemüller's study of these two figures brings to light the roots of modern social engineering, providing insight for today's sociologists, historians, and political scholars.
About the Author: Thomas Etzemüller is adjunct professor of modern history and Heisenberg Scholar at the University of Oldenburg.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Bibliographic Details
Title: Alva and Gunnar Myrdal: Social Engineering ...
Publisher: Lexington Books
Publication Date: 2014
Binding: hardcover
Condition: Very Good