The Fourth Great Awakening and the Future of Egalitarianism

All as described

Written for PHD's it is quite difficult to keep up with with but is interesting if you skip a lot I wish it would have been written for the general public because the concept of "the great awakings is so interesting.

Fascinating read

Robert Fogel discusses what he calls 'spiritual inequality", in the hope that the next american spiritual awakening 'fourth great awakening" in American religious Faith will change things. Fogel points ou that change has come in an astonishingy short period, he oints out, technical process has made it possible for almost everyone in the rich world to have food, clothing and shelter: which, a century ago, absorbed 8o% of the average household's consumption. The very meaning of poverty has changed. His book deals with the relationship between, on the one hand, organised religion and its periodic "awakenings", often stimulated by technological change; and, on the other, the political drive of equality. The first "great awakening in the 173os, laid the'Logical basis for the American Revolution, starting in 1800, built up to the abolition of slavery. The "Fourth great wakening" of the book's title is the religious revival that began around 1960. Like the two awakenings, it stressed equality of opportunity. But tis has set it at odds with the third awakening, which began late in the 19th century but cast its shadow throug the 2oth century. Because equality even of opportunity is hard to achieve, it may be that equality of remains forever an unattainable dream. I was disappointed by Fogel's reluctance to go deeper into the religious debate. Will American Christian fundamentalism rise - just as the Islamic one is and roughly as a reaction to modern secular life - and will it clash with secualr Europe? all in all the book has a worthy purpose but I would have also preferred to see a less 'scientific' or econometric approach. Thomas Frank, Sennett and even Ortega's biography of Sam Walton offer a less theoretical but more compelling view of modern American life.

Fogel, one of economics's great thinkers, here proposes that we have entered a deep point in America, one in which people are striving towards spiritual goals as never before. In particular, there is a thirst for self-fulfillment, for each of us to become our best selves, as many religious traditions urge us to do, within communities of mutual respect. Material equality, in this view, is much less important as we collectively have abundance. The quest for material equality Fogel sees as the focus of the Third Great Awakening, which remains the economic focus of liberals. (My own comment is that liberals, who are college educated, are already able to fulfill themselves, often at work and certainly in their long periods of retirement.) But many others, perhaps most of the society, are frustrated both because their work is unsatisfying and the families and communities they have are not respected by the larger society. Fogel sees this profound misunderstanding as central to current political struggles. I would also comment that Fogel is not very interested in the distortions in the political process engendered by corporate lobbying, etc. But that should not get in the way of readers who want to understand the deeper forces driving our politics.

Robert Fogel already demonstrated, decades ago, that he could apply econometrics to historical data to good effect. He is a founder of cliometrics, the systematic quantitative study of historical data. From railroads to slavery to nutritional improvements on work capacity, he has had few peers in penetrating tough and politically charged topics. In this book he asks readers to conjoin political and religious movements with deeper longings for satisfaction from living. Thanks to Richard Easterlin we know that money does not buy happiness. Fogel explores what long-term tendencies in the American past sought to look beyond Benthamite utility for larger meanings. His search will not always be satifying to all readers, particularly those expecting to find a Marxian dialectic at the root of positive change. In reading the book, non-specialists get a special treat: a non-technical survey of factors that brought on the unprecedented improvements in levels of living in North Atlantic countries over the past two hundred years.

Not easy to read but good book

did not order this

This book reveals the spiritual awakening that is currently taking place in America. And it has political implications in that it brings solid time-tested values back into the main stream thinking of that great nation. Furthermore, it has a positive impact on nations around the world, many of which look to America for clues to the future.