Gitlin (Journalism and Sociology/Columbia Univ.) discusses modern
politics, the media and activist intellectuals in seven disjointed
essays. Besides two brief introductory chapters, there are few
clues about how these pieces, all previously published in some
form, fit together. Gitlin (Letters to a Young Activist, 2003,
etc.) pines for a lost American era in which books guided the
national dialogue and the media strived to report serious,
objective news. That environment supported three of his
intellectual heroes-David Riesman, C. Wright Mills and Irving
Howe-and Gitlin argues that their insights improved American
discourse in real time. He marvels at the popularity of The Lonely
Crowd, Riesman's book about how America's obsession with
consumption spawned a more selfish national character. Mills is
portrayed as a pioneering and thoughtful leader of American
radicalism, and Gitlin thinks the sociologist would be disappointed
with the emotionalized and choreographed discourse in contemporary
America. Gitlin sometimes offers opaque, grand declarations with
little support. While arguing that stable politics can be boring,
he declares that when politics respects limits, "it slides towards
the tedious-which is why, by way of compensation, we require art."
Later he announces, "The media have been in the habit of smuggling
the habit of living with the media." The author concludes with the
title essay, about patriotism and sacrifice after 9/11. Gitlin
shares his feelings as a New Yorker and a liberal intellectual who
dutifully hung his American flag, but who also recalled the anger
he felt towards the same symbol during Vietnam. He criticizes
"cowed" Democrats, the "fundamentalist left" and President Bush's
"smug" ineptitude, and he calls for a new liberal approach to
patriotism, marked by national sacrifice. But he gives far less
attention to addressing this than he does to offering criticisms of
existing methods. Spotty and derivative. (Kirkus Reviews)
"The tragedy of the left is that, having achieved an
unprecedented victory in helping stop an appalling war, it then
proceeded to commit suicide." So writes Todd Gitlin about the
aftermath of the Vietnam War in this collection of writings that
calls upon intellectuals on the left to once again engage American
public life and resist the trappings of knee-jerk negativism,
intellectual fads, and political orthodoxy. Gitlin argues for a
renewed sense of patriotism based on the ideals of sacrifice,
tough-minded criticism, and a willingness to look anew at the
global role of the United States in the aftermath of 9/11. Merely
criticizing and resisting the Bush administration will not do --
the left must also imagine and propose an America reformed.
Where then can the left turn? Gitlin celebrates the work of
three prominent postwar intellectuals: David Riesman, C. Wright
Mills, and Irving Howe. Their ambitious, assertive, and clearly
written works serve as models for an intellectual engagement that
forcefully addresses social issues and remains affirmative and
comprehensive. Sharing many of the qualities of these thinkers'
works, Todd Gitlin's blunt, frank analysis of the current state of
the left and his willingness to challenge orthodoxies pave the way
for a revival in leftist thought and a new liberal patriotism.
General
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