Christopher Lasch was een Amerikaanse historicus en sociaal criticus die geschiedenis gebruikte om te ontmaskeren hoe instituties de onafhankelijkheid van gezinnen en gemeenschappen ondermijnden. Hij streefde naar een historisch geïnformeerde sociale kritiek om Amerikanen te leren omgaan met consumentisme en de 'cultuur van narcisme'. Zijn geschriften, die de onvrede met het liberalisme analyseerden en de achteruitgang van de Amerikaanse cultuur onderzochten, leidden tot brede discussies. Uiteindelijk onderzocht hij hoe het geloof in 'Vooruitgang' Amerikanen belemmerde om zijn argumenten te begrijpen, en trok hij lessen uit onderdrukte populistische en ambachtelijke bewegingen uit het verleden.
Exploring the intersection of women's roles and broader historical trends, the book delves into how industrialization and market dynamics have reshaped intimacy, domestic ideals, and sexual politics. Christopher Lasch challenges traditional views of patriarchy, advocating for a feminist perspective that emphasizes the potential of a democratic common life. Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn's introduction provides a fresh interpretation of these ideas, highlighting their relevance in understanding the evolving landscape of gender and society in both Europe and America.
[A] passionate, compelling, and disturbing argument that the ills of democracy
in the United States today arise from the default of its elites. -John Gray,
New York Times Book Review (front-page review)
When The Culture of Narcissism was first published, it was clear that Christopher Lasch had identified something important: what was happening to American society in the wake of the decline of the family over the last century. The book quickly became a bestseller. This edition includes a new afterword, "The Culture of Narcissism Revisited."
Plain Style is an amusing and instructive guide to written English by the late Christopher Lasch, author of The Culture of Narcissism , The True and Only Heaven , and many other memorable works of American history and social criticism. Written for the benefit of the students at the University of Rochester, where Lasch taught from 1970 until his death in 1994, it quickly established itself in typescript as a local classic—a lively, witty, and historically minded alternative to the famous volume by William Strunk and E. B. White, The Elements of Style .Now available for the first time in published form, Plain Style is fundamentally a clear, readable, practical guide to the timeless principles of effective composition. At the same time, however, in ways that Stewart Weaver explains in his critical introduction, it is a distinctive and revealing addition to the published work of an eminent American thinker. No mere primer, Plain Style is an essay in cultural criticism, a political treatise even, by one for whom directness, clarity, and honesty of expression were essential to the living spirit of democracy.As the teachers and students who have for years benefited from its succinct wisdom will testify, Plain Style is an indispensable guide to writing and, indeed, Christopher Lasch's least-expected but perhaps most serviceable work.
In seinem letzten Buch befaßt sich Christopher Lasch mit dem verderblichen Einfluß der Eliten, die aus ihrem machtvollen Elfenbeinturm heraus der Demokratie gleichgültig gegenüberstehen und sich nicht länger für die Zukunft der Gesellschaft verantwortlich fühlen.
