Seeking the American Dream

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvi

   PDF

2. Antecedents

   • Robert C. Hauhart

   Pages 1-23

3. Early Sociological Investigations of the American Dream

   • Robert C. Hauhart

   Pages 25-48

4. Sociological Studies of American Life in the 1920s

   • Robert C. Hauhart

   Pages 49-65

5. The American Dream in the Great Depression

   • Robert C. Hauhart

   Pages 67-92

6. The American Way of Life in the Post–World War II Era

   • Robert C. Hauhart

   Pages 93-115

7. Postwar Affluence Meets the Great Society

   • Robert C. Hauhart

   Pages 117-133

8. The American Dream Critically Examined

   • Robert C. Hauhart

   Pages 135-155

9. The American Dream in a Diminished Economy

   • Robert C. Hauhart

   Pages 157-180

10. Dreams, Class, and Opportunity at the Fin de Siècle and Beyond

    • Robert C. Hauhart

    Pages 181-197

11. Contemporary Twenty-First Century Assessments of the American Dream

    • Robert C. Hauhart

    Pages 199-225

12. Down and Out or On Their Way: Street People, the Homeless, and College Students Envision the American Dream

    • Robert C. Hauhart

    Pages 227-250

13. Conclusion

    • Robert C. Hauhart

    Pages 251-274

14. Back Matter

    Pages 275-283

    PDF

Historically, the United States has been viewed by generations of immigrants as the land of opportunity, where through hard work one can prosper and make a better life. The American Dream is perhaps the United States’ most common export. For many Americans, though, questions remain about whether the American Dream can be achieved in the twenty-first century. Americans, faced with global competition and increased social complexity, wonder whether their dwindling natural resources, polarized national and local politics, and often unregulated capitalism can support the American Dream today. This book examines the ideas and experiences that have formed the American Dream, assesses its meaning for Americans, and evaluates its prospects for the future.

• American Dream
• Social mobility
• Stratification
• Social classes
• Work Ethic
• Success
• Capitalism
• Community
• Achievement
• Pursuit of Happiness
• American exceptionalism

“In terms of subject matter, Seeking the American Dream: A Sociological Inquiry could not be more timely. … As such, the book is, above all, a comprehensive literature review of sociological analyses of the American Dream. … Hauhart has written a valuable book. It should serve as an important reference guide for those eager to conduct research on the American Dream as well as those interested in teaching courses on it.” (Francesco Duina, Contemporary Sociology, Vol. 47 (5), 2018)

“There have been countless invocations, but fewer searching studies, of the American Dream. What makes Hauhart's work notable is the care this book shows in conceptualizing the Dream and the systematic attempt to ground it in previous scholarship on the subject. A valuable contribution to understanding a (perhaps amazingly) persistent national myth.” (Jim Cullen, author of The American Dream: A Short History of an Idea that Shaped a Nation)

“Hauhart’s book is at once laser-focused and wide-ranging. It is focused in its sustained attention to a single core cultural symbol in American society. It is wide-ranging in its synthesis of analyses addressing that symbol over a century and across multiple disciplines and venues. Hauhart’s historical framework allows him to trace both changes and constants in the meaning – and the attainability – of the American Dream, and allows the book as a whole to serve as a sharp lens for understanding broader dynamics in American society, including meritocracy, polarization, and individualism. It is this ‘heaven in a grain of sand’ approach that will appeal to students of American culture and to those interested in the impacts of the economic changes that have reshaped class landscapes in recent decades. It might be read productively as a text in a variety of classes, and as a synthetic review of a century of analyses of the American Dream for popular audiences.” (Dennis Downey, Professor and Chair of Sociology, California State University at Channel Islands, USA, and Faculty Director for the Center for Community Engagement, Amherst College, USA)

“Seeking the American Dream is an excellent study of America’s guiding ideal from a sociological perspective. Unlike previous studies, many of which took an economic perspective, Hauhart shows what sociological studies over the course of American history have told us about how people of various backgrounds actually lived, what they believed, and what they sought to achieve for themselves and their children. This is a study of the American Dream as it was lived and experienced by real people and as it was studied and reported by the sociologists among them. It will benefit a wide range of readers.” (Cal Jillson, Professor of Political Science, Southern Methodist University, USA, and author of Pursuing the American Dream: Opportunity and Exclusion Over Four Centuries)

“Always a timely topic, this book offers a thorough examination of the American Dream before it even had a name. An engaging journey through the studies of key scholars gives us a comprehensive and clear understanding of the loaded meaning the American Dream contains today.” (Karen Sternheimer, Associate Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies, Department of Sociology, University of Southern California, USA)

“From Jamestown and the Pilgrims to the latest discussions by contemporary intellectuals, this book provides a near encyclopedic survey and critique of the concept of the ‘American Dream.’  It is a crucial resource for understanding how Americans have thought about, and are currently thinking about, opportunity in the US.  An important contribution.” (Murray Milner, Jr., Senior Fellow, Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture, University of Virginia, USA, and author of Elites:  A General Model and Freaks, Geeks, and Cool Kids)

“Throughout the history of the United States, we have conceptualized ourselves as a nation in pursuit of a distinctive set of goals, some material, some political.  Fundamental to this self- understanding is the notion that birthright should not define life chances.  Yet the content of this distinctive vision has shifted with time.  We have always been celebrants of ‘the American dream,’ without ever fixing exactly what we were after, but sure that these goals represent a unique characteristic of the national experience.  Seeking the American Dream lays that winding history out for readers in fine detail.  It invites us to recognize (and occasionally celebrate) the assumptions and aspirations of a nation that believes in the religion of self-invention.  The author has done us a fine service in analyzing this shifting landscape and its special place in our national culture.”  (Katherine Newman, Provost and Professor of Sociology, University of Massachusetts, USA, and author of Reskilling America: Learning to Labor in the 21st Century)

“Hauhart's treatise on the American Dream provides a refreshingly critical analysis of this firmly entrenched American creed. With a thorough examination of previous treatments of the American Dream, Hauhart traces the history of the Dream from its earliest roots through the ups and downs of the 1900s and into the present era. Throughout the book, the meaning--and attainability--of the Dream is presented from the perspective of different social classes and groups in the US. It is a must-read for anyone seeking a clearer, albeit sobering, understanding of this uniquely American ideal.” (Clayton Peoples, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Nevada, Reno, USA, and recipient of the Pacific Sociological Association’s Early Career Award for Innovation in Teaching)

• Saint Martin’s University, Lacey, USA

  Robert C. Hauhart

Robert C. Hauhart is Professor of Society and Social Justice at Saint Martin’s University, Washington, USA. He is the co-author (with Jon E. Grahe) of Designing and Teaching Undergraduate Capstone Courses (2014) and co-editor (with Jeff Birkenstein) of American Writers in Exile (2015). He has taught previously at Pacific Lutheran University, USA, the University of New Mexico, USA, and the University of Maine at Machias, USA.

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