Paths to the Present: Interpretive Essays on American History since 1930 ed. by James T. Patterson (review)

REVIEWS 363 in thedayof radicaltheology, andfinallyasaprogenitorof'the bestandthebrightest' ideologies that issuedin and died in Vietnameseswamps. Merkley'sisoneamong several'second-look' books,after the vultureshave flown on. It is not likely that anyoneelsewill haveto retracehis themesfor someyears.We now know that Niebuhrismisused andabused if histheological rootsfor politics areforgotten. I haveslighted thepoliticalreferences in this'politicalaccount,' mainlybecause I believe thatMerkleyoffersless newness anddepthin hisinterpretationhere.Butthe readerwhohasnotbeenoverthisgroundwill find help hereastheauthorsortsout the many changesand continuitiesin Niebuhr, the pacifistand ex-pacifist,the Marxist and then anti-Marxist,the Christiantheologianand alwaysthe Christian theologian. University ofChicago Paths tothe Present: Interpretive Essays onAmerican History since •93o. Editedbyj^MEsT. ?^T•E•tSO•. Minneapolis, Burgess Publishing, 1975.Pp.viii,23o.$4.95. EditorJamesPatterson correctlydeniesthatanycommoninterpretivethemebinds these fiveessays together.The authors 'havenotjoinedas"leftists" or"rightists,"' he asserts. To do so, he believes, would 'force complexityinto a mold.' This is the standardliberalbackof thehandtotheleft,anassumed superiorityanddevotionto the evidence. Oh to be a liberal and reside forever in that academic Eden where valuesnever intrude. Fortunatelythe valuesof the authors representedin this collection areclearandgreatlyenhance thevalueof theirwork. Three of theauthorsareinformedbyaliberal-pluralist visionofAmericansociety. WilliamChafein theopeningessay takes ontheenormous taskof interpretingsocial changein theUnited States duringthelastforty-fiveyears.He uses hisownspecialty, the history of women, as a convenientprism through which he viewsthis vast landscape. Chafeargues thatthegrowthof theAmericaneconomy since WorldWar • hasbeen the singlemostimportant factor in providingthe contextfor social change. Thusincreased jobopportunities forwomensetthestage fortheideological changes of thelatesixties andseventies. More important,however,isthatChafesees inthese changes theoutlines ofapost-industrial society whichI personally donotsee. Evenso,it ismuchtooearlyfor thehistorian tojudge whetherBellandBrzezinski havesuperseded Marx andEngels. Chafe'sposition, however, complements theanti-ideological stance takenby Patterson ,for it assumes that traditionalclass and ideological lineshavebeensuperseded .It leadsChafe,asit hasmanyadvocates of women'sliberation,to espouse a fashionable middle-class versionof the women'smovementwhichtendsto ignore those class differences whichareofgreaterimportance thanthoseof gender.Pattersonin hisownessay on reform seems to regard governmentasone of a seriesof competing •lites. On two occasions, he believes,reform politics has briefly triumphed.Firstunder Roosevelt from 1933to 1935andthenagainunderJohnson from •964 to 1965.Patterson isfamiliarwith the New Left critiqueof reform but 364 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW prefersto examinenot the limitations of the reformersbut whathe regardsasthe formidable institutional barriers against realreform.Hisfailureorrefusal toregard politicsin class termsresultsin excusing the limitationsof the reformerswhile emphasizing the formidableopposition theyfacein a complex,pluralistic society. One maygrantthe complexnatureof the Americanruling class andthe divisions withinit but Patterson's brandof pluralism simplynegates theclass interests of the politicalrulers,grantingthemin return the statusof an autonomous •lite withina relatively closed system. JohnGaryClifford'streatmentof foreignpolicyagainpromotes theliberalposition .Clifford isonthe sideof theangels asacriticof theAmericanriseto globalism andthelatewarinVietnam,butheplaces theresponsibility for American failures on bureaucracy and policy-makers ratherthanthe natureof Americancapitalism. He hopesthat the United Stateshasnow learned its lesson,but doesnot question whether theglobal ambitions ofAmerican capitalism havechanged. The lasttwoessays in thisvolumediffer fundamentallyfrom their companion pieces.Richard Daviesseesthe crisisof American citiesas the result of private ambitionsdominatingpublicneeds.Harvard Sitkoff, in his contributionon race relations, recognizes that the earliercivilrightsmovementwaslimitedby middleclass values whichinhibitedthedevelopment of a working-class alliance thatmight fulfil the needs of both white and black workers. Both Davies and Sitkoffdeserve one further accolade.They refuse to pander to current lib-rad fashionby deemphasizing theprogress oftheless fortunatesectors oftheAmericanpopulace over the lastforty-fiveyears.Of course, theydo not believethatthisprogress hasbeen sufficient. Thesefiveessays constitute a goodintroductionto recentAmericanhistoryand afford historians of all persuasions an opportunityto grapplewith provocative interpretations. Yet, theyare importantnot because they are non-ideological but because eachauthor,consciously or not,takesaposition andargues itwell. STEPHEN SCHEINBERG Concordia University TheNewDeal. •: TheNationalLevel;II; TheStateandLocalLevels. EditedbyJOHN BV•EM^N, ROBERT BREMNER, and D^VmBRODY. Columbus,Ohio StateUniversity Press,•975. PP-xvi, 34•, xiv,434. $3ø.ootheset. In two volumesof originalessays on the New Deal one might havehopedfor interpretivebreakthroughs or originalsyntheses pointingthewayfor futurescholars .However,with a fewimportantexceptions, the workhereconsidered doesnot meetthese expectations. Thefirstvolume presents essays onthenational level which arelargelyarehashofexisting work,whilethesecond develops James T. Patterson's promising beginnings in TheNewDealandtheStates butnottoanygeneral, effective purpose. EllisHawleyon 'The New Dealand Business,' RichardKirkendallon 'The New DealandAgriculture,'MiltonDerberon'The New DealandLabor,'andRaymond ...