The “Myth” and “Value” Approaches to American Studies

The "Myth 11 and "Value" Approaches to American Studies Seymour Martin Lipset, Revolution and Counter Revolution: Change and Persistence in Social Structures. Revised edition. Anchor Books, 1970. $2.25. 416 pp. FRED MATTHEWS Revolution arid Counter-Revolution is a collection of essays written between 1963 and 1968 which develop the themes of Lips et' s earlier works, Political Man and The First New Nation. The title is from an essay on Canadian/ American contrasts, and may suggest both the fascination of the book and an element of caricature which may be inherent in its approach . Lipset is pursuing a grand program of comparative political analysis , with emphasis on the evolutionary process of 11 modernization" and the national traits which influence its exact outcome. It is a work of great value to anyone interested in area studies, not only for the variety of useful information but for an exemplified method which may at the same time both focus and broaden that vaguest and most problematic of area programs, 11 American Studies." The book is divided in four. Part I deals with methodological questions in sociology and history. Part II, probably the most immediately interesting to readers of this RevieUJ, deals with the comparative economic and political development of Canada, Latin America and the United States. Part III deals with political conflict and social stratification, and Part IV with case studies of class and religious influences on political conflict in a variety of societies. The varied topics are drawn together by an empha-\ sis on the comparative approach and the causal significance of 11 values." Lipset assumes first that no society can be understood strictly on its own terms, without comparison with other societies appropriately chosen for a blend of similarity and contrast; and second that different patterns of development must be explained not only by geographic or economic forces, but by differences in culture or national "values" which are products of historical development and are closely linked with social structure. 0 Values," the collective judgments and prejudices which an effective society inculcates in its members, are a major determinant of social change. Lipset sets out to map the relation between these beliefs and objective social structures and overt behavior of masses of people. The value of Revolution and Counter-revolution for American Studies THE CANADIAN REVIEW OF AMERICAN STUDIES VOL, III, NO. 2, FALL 1.972 is that its sheer intelligence, joined to the prestige of its author, may stimulate us to escape the cramping limitations of interest and method which have restricted the field more than any other regional program - the preference for private subtlety and disdain for verifiable public data which stem from its origin in departments of literature. If it is to survive, American Studies must transcend its defensive elitism and summon the courage to J'/commit a social science,'' to admit that there is more to a society than its formal or folk art, and reach for a comprehensive approach which can assimilate the data of divergent disciplines into a unified description of an area or culture. Lipset's use of the idealist reification called "values" is shared by many of us, but he broadens it in ways which while not wholly novel are still ignored by many: he searches for evidence of value-patterns in a wide network of data., from legal documents to statistics of crime and "social problems." He knows that "things exist" and that external data impose a check on the imagination., that there is a world beyond the vision and technique of a Fitzgerald or Faulkner., and that an area of study which pretends to comprehensiveness and generalization cannot ignore the larger if less perfect world outside the study of literary genius. Further, Lipset attempts to relate values to other types of influence, and to their genesis in specific situations involving the survival of a society struggling to sustain and define itself. His use of a variety of quantitative indexes is a model of procedure for scholars willing to learn by studying his employment of specialized public data in constructing a comparative interpretation of two societies. The essay, uvalues and Entrepreneurship in the Americas," drawing upon the work of the psychologist David...