1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910783246303321

Autore

Kusserow Adrie S

Titolo

American Individualisms [[electronic resource] ] : Child Rearing and Social Class in Three Neighborhoods / / by Adrie S. Kusserow

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New York : , : Palgrave Macmillan US : , : Imprint : Palgrave Macmillan, , 2004

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (221 p.)

Collana

Culture, Mind, and Society

Disciplina

305.5097471

Soggetti

Anthropology

Ethnology

Cultural Anthropology

Childhood, Adolescence and Society

Social Anthropology

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di contenuto

Cover; Contents; Series Forward; Introduction; Chapter One: Ethnographic Method and Context; Chapter Two: American Individualism and Social Class Revisited; Chapter Three: Queenston and Kelley Ethnoconceptions of the Child's Self: The Soft-Hard Continuum and Establishment of Firm Boundaries to the Self; Chapter Four: Queenston Hard Protective Individualism vs. Kelley Hard Projective Individualism; Chapter Five: Individualism and Ethnoconceptions of the Child's Self in Parkside; Chapter Six: Queenston and Kelley Preschools; Chapter Seven: Parkside Preschools

Chapter Eight: Balancing Psychologized Individualism with Societal Constraints and Uncovering the True SelfConclusion: The Varieties of Individualism; Appendix A: Sample Letter for Parents; Appendix B: Interview Questions; Notes; Bibliography; Index

Sommario/riassunto

What are hard and soft individualisms? In this detailed ethnography of three communities in Manhattan and Queens, Kusserow interviews parents and teachers (from wealthy to those on welfare) on the types of hard and soft individualisms they encourage in their children and students. American Individualisms explores the important issue of class



differences in the socialization of individualism in America. It presents American individualism not as one single homogeneous, stereotypic life-pattern as often claimed to be, but as variable, class-differentiated models of individualism instilled in young children by their parents and preschool teachers in Manhattan and Queens. By providing rich descriptions of the situational, class-based individualisms that take root in communities with vastly different visions of the future, Kusserow brings social inequality back into previously bland and generic discussions of American individualism.