Although Veblen, Dewey, and Mills disagreed on a number of points, Rick Tilman shows how these thinkers forged an authentic, coherent, and original tradition of critical social science in the United States. By comparing their views on a number of timely issues such as aesthetics, feminism, and gambling, the author shows how their tradition is vibrantly relevant in the new millenium.

Amidst the global financial and political crises of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, scholars have turned for insight to the work of the radical American thinker, Thorstein Veblen. Inspired by an abundance of new research, social scientists from multiple disciplines have displayed a heightened appreciation for Veblen’s importance and value for contemporary social, economic and political studies. The Anthem Companion to Thorstein Veblen is a stimulating addition to this new body of scholarship, offering fresh material for ongoing reconsiderations of Veblen as a major theoretical resource for present-day debates on epistemology, social evolution, values, higher education, capitalist development and politics.

This book offers a comprehensive guide to reading and understanding the development of Mills's sociological ideas, placing them in the context of his life and his position in American sociology.

"Tilman argues that evolutionary naturalism provides the philosophical foundations of Veblen's thought. He links evolutionary naturalism to Veblen's aesthetics, secular humanism, sociology of control, sociobiology, and sociology of knowledge, thereby initiating observations regarding the relationship of Veblen's own life to his thinking and his place as a cultural lag theorist"--Provided by publisher.

Aimed at a generation of students and activists who have probably encountered very little of his work, this is a thoughtful and engaging exploration of the critical social thought of C. Wright Mills.

More than 50 years ago, C. Wright Mills heralded a new age for sociology for the 1960s and beyond. Yet his forward-looking vision also foretold some of the social conditions we associate, more recently, with postmodern society. This intellectual biography of Mills emphasizes early life experiences that shaped Mills's expansive vision of the future, just as Kerr develops, from Mills, tools for confronting current and looming problems. Drawing upon little-known documents, Kerr expands our knowledge about this leading 20th-century sociologist, and shows how forward-looking Millsian scholarship can enhance the endeavors of sociology today.

Donald Trump’s astonishing rise to the US presidency challenges conventional understandings of American politics, yet he is distinctively American. His biography and family lineage reflect American traditions such as real estate hucksterism and buccaneering salesmanship. But Trump’s pugnacity also reflects the shadow of other darker American traditions of misogyny, racism and xenophobia, patterns that formed what Thorstein Veblen called a “sclerosis of the American soul.” Using Veblen’s theory of American development to explore the nation’s curious fusion of barbarism and liberal democracy, Veblen’s America taps the rich vein of the sociologist’s early twentieth-century insights to shed light on the Trump phenomenon that has overwhelmed and threatened early twenty-first-century American democracy.

This introduction to one of the most influential philosophers in American history examines every major dimension of John Dewey's philosophy, from his early post-Hegelian idealism to pragmatic experimentalism, as well as his views on ethics and political theory, philosophy of education, aesthetics, and philosophy of religion. It situates Dewey's thought in the context of his time (1859-1952) and personal biography while also discussing his considerable work as America's foremost public intellectual through the first half of the 20th century. With a particular focus on how Dewey's thought can be applied to real life and its particular relevance to the contemporary moment, Introducing Dewey is the ideal starting point for anyone with an interest in this seminal figure in American philosophy.

The volume offers many interesting hints on which the reader may have cause to reflect. Tiziana Foresti, History of Economic Ideas With the restoration of laissez faire as the governing principle of contemporary economic ideology and policy making, Thorstein Veblen s insights are once again timely. This book revisits his legacy, featuring original essays by renowned Veblen scholars. The contributors review and comment upon the subjects that concerned Veblen such as: the legal system, finance and capital, the operation of markets, neoclassical economics, private property, cultural and economic change, the place of science, and higher education. They consider how his evolutionary theory of the economy and society can continue to inform our understanding of our modern world. As an astute and highly capable observer, Veblen shed light on our present system through a re-examination of a similar system. Students and scholars of economics will find this provocative book of great interest. It will also be a refreshing discussion for those frustrated by the gap between the rosy scenarios of conventional economics and the problems of inequality, conspicuous consumption, concentrated economic power and unresponsive government.

After his death Thorstein Veblen was hailed as ‘America’s Darwin and Marx’ and is normally portrayed as the perennial iconoclast. He severely criticised traditional economics and attempted to create an alternative approach based on a much more complex view of human beings. He is one of the most celebrated economists of our age and has been the inspiration for many books; the predatory version of capitalism we now again experience, the phenomenon of studying cultures of consumption and the darker sides of gilded ages can be traced back to Veblen. A conference in Veblen’s ancestral Norway marked the 150th anniversary of his birth. The aim of the conference was to consolidate Veblen scholarship and evaluate his relevance for the problems of today. This collection offers the results of that endeavour; it is a milestone of Vebleniana which assesses all the most salient aspects of his life and influence. Many of its contributors also push into uncharted territory, examining the man and his work from new and necessary perspectives hitherto ignored by scholarship.