Feudal America : elements of the Middle Ages in contemporary society / Vladimir Shlapentokh and Joshua Woods
- Author
- Shlapentokh, Vladimir
- Published
- University Park, Pa. : Pennsylvania State University Press, [2011]
- Copyright Date
- ©2011
- Physical Description
- 1 online resource (x, 170 pages)
- Additional Creators
- Woods, Joshua
Access Online
- www.oapen.org , Open Access
- oapen.org , Open Access
- oapen.org , Open Access
- Restrictions on Access
- Open Access Unrestricted online access
- Contents
- The feudal model in social analysis : from medieval Europe to contemporary America -- Feudal, liberal, and authoritarian models as tools for analyzing the middle ages and contemporary American society -- Big money and corporations as promoters of feudal tendencies -- The feudal model and the organizational level of analysis -- Private coercion : a feudal aspect of contemporary American society -- Personal relations in American politics and business : a feudal phenomenon.
- Summary
- Do Americans live in a liberal capitalist society, or a society in which big money, private security, and personal relations determine key social outcomes? Shlapentokh and Woods argue that the answer to these questions cannot be found among the conventional models. Offering a new analytical tool, the authors present a provocative explanation of the nature of contemporary society by comparing its essential characteristics to those of medieval European societies. Their feudal model emphasizes five elements: the weakness of the state to protect its citizens, conflict and collusion between and within organizations that involve corruption and other forms of illegal or semilegal actions, the dominance of personal relations in political and economic life, the prevalence of an elitist ideology, and the use of private agents and organizations to provide safety and security. Feudal America urges readers to look for explanations of contemporary social problems in medieval European history.
- Subject(s)
- ISBN
- 9780271056746 (electronic bk.)
0271056746 (electronic bk.)
9780271055350 (electronic bk.)
0271055359 (electronic bk.)
0271037822
027105588X
9780271037813
0271037814
9780271037820
9780271055886
9780271053653
0271053658 - Note
- Knowledge Unlatched
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