To Break Our Chains

Jerome Braun, M.A. (1976), Labor and Industrial Relations, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana writes and lectures in interdisciplinary social science, with emphasis on culture and personality and democracy from a cross-cultural perspective. He also writes on pragmatic critical theory.

• IntroductionPART I: VALUES AND CHARACTER: ON HOW TO MAKE TRAGEDY UNNECESSARY1. Values from a Pragmatic Perspective2. Alienation, the Short Version3. Prospects for Democracy: Individualism/Collectivism as Sources of Association/Community4. Character and Civil Society5. Ethics for an Impersonal Age6. The Place of Optimism in American Life7. The Rationality of Psychological Fulfillment in Adolescents’ Lives: The Production of Personal Relationships and Self-Identity 8. Nihilism: East and West9. Making Friends in the Non-Western World10. Aspects of Hysteria in America, Brazil, Germany, and AfricaPART II: PRACTICAL ISSUES11. Figurehead Politicians and Democracy12. Social Engineering and Public Relations Stunts13. Liberalism at the Crossroads14. What Does the Working Class Really Want?15. Foolish Ritualism and Democracy16. The Place of Law in a Democracy17. The “Star” System in America18. What is Happiness? The Loss of Human Nature in Psychiatry19. The Lowering of Professional Standards in AmericaPART III: THE GOALS OF SOCIETY: JUSTICE AND FREEDOM20. Liberal and Authoritarian Versions of Democracy21. Culture and Civil Society22. Democracy and Civil Society23. The Ecological Society24. Plutocracy and the Labor Movement25. Industrial Democracy for the 21st Century26. The Great Weakness of American GovernmentPART IV: CONCLUSION27. Modern and Postmodern Views of Democracy28. Nation-Building and Social Solidarity29. Reason and Morality in Community: Some ConclusionsReferences Index