This post is a tribute to a wonderful essay by the great British historian of working-class history, E. P. Thompson. His classic work is The Making of the English Working Class, published in 1966. The paper I'm touting here provides a lovely window into the heart of his craft, which is an unlikely combination of … Continue reading E.P. Thompson: Time, Work-Discipline, and Industrial Capitalism
This post is a brief commentary on historian Walter Scheidel's book, Escape from Rome. It's a stunningly original analysis of a topic that has long fascinated scholars like me: How did Europe come to create the modern world? His answer is this: Europe became the cauldron of modernity and the dominant power in the world … Continue reading How the Fall of the Roman Empire Spurred the Rise of Modernity — and What this Suggests about Rise of US Higher Ed
This post is a reflection on Michael Sandel's new book, The Tyranny of Merit: What's Become of the Common Good? He's a philosopher at Harvard and this is his analysis of the dangers posed by the American meritocracy. The issue is one I've been exploring here for the last two years in a variety of … Continue reading Sandel: The Tyranny of Merit
This is a lovely essay by Clare Coffey from the summer issue of Hedgehog Review. In it she explores the extremes in contemporary American life through the medium of two recent books: those who have been shunted aside in the knowledge economy and destined to deaths of despair, and those who occupy the flashiest reaches … Continue reading Clare Coffey — Closing Time: We’re All Counting Bodies
Last summer I posted a classic lecture by the great German sociologist, Max Weber, "Science as a vocation." Recently I ran across a terrific essay by George Blaustein about Weber's vision of the modern world, drawing on this lecture and two other seminal works: the lecture "Politics as a Vocation" (delivered a year after … Continue reading Blaustein: Searching for Consolation in Max Weber’s Work Ethic
This post is a brief commentary on historian Walter Scheidel's latest book, Escape from Rome. It's a stunningly original analysis of a topic that has long fascinated scholars like me: How did Europe come to create the modern world? His answer is this: Europe became the cauldron of modernity and the dominant power in the … Continue reading Escape from Rome: How the Loss of Empire Spurred the Rise of Modernity — and What this Suggests about US Higher Ed
This post is a tribute to a wonderful essay by the great British historian of working-class history, E. P. Thompson. His classic work is The Making of the English Working Class, published in 1966. The paper I'm touting here provides a lovely window into the heart of his craft, which is an unlikely combination of … Continue reading E.P. Thompson: Time, Work-Discipline, and Industrial Capitalism
David Labaree on Schooling, History, and Writing 