Rugged Individualism and the Misunderstanding of American Inequality

Lawrence M. Eppard; Mark Robert Rank and Heather E. Bullock - With Noam Chomsky; Henry A. Giroux; David Brady and Dan Schubert

Rugged Individualism and the Misunderstanding of American Inequality explores and critiques the widespread perception in the United States that one’s success or failure in life is largely the result of personal choices and individual characteristics. As the authors show, the distinctively individualist ideology of American politics and culture shapes attitudes toward poverty and economic inequality in profound ways, fostering social policies that de-emphasize structural remedies. Drawing on a variety of unique methodologies, the book synthesizes data from large-scale surveys of the American population, and it features both conversations with academic experts and interviews with American citizens intimately familiar with the consequences of economic disadvantage. This mixture of approaches gives readers a fuller understanding of “skeptical altruism,” a concept the authors use to describe the American public’s hesitancy to adopt a more robust and structurally-oriented approach to solving the persistent problem of economic disadvantage.

University Press Copublishing Division / Lehigh University Press

Pages: 302 • Trim: 6¼ x 9¼

978-1-61146-234-0 • Hardback • February 2020 • $128.00 • (£98.00)

978-1-61146-236-4 • Paperback • March 2022 • $42.99 • (£35.00)

978-1-61146-235-7 • eBook • February 2020 • $40.50 • (£30.00)

Subjects: Social Science / Social Classes & Economic Disparity, Social Science / American Studies, Social Science / Economic Geography

Rugged Individualism and the Misunderstanding of American Inequality

Hardback

Paperback

eBook

Summary

Rugged Individualism and the Misunderstanding of American Inequality explores and critiques the widespread perception in the United States that one’s success or failure in life is largely the result of personal choices and individual characteristics. As the authors show, the distinctively individualist ideology of American politics and culture shapes attitudes toward poverty and economic inequality in profound ways, fostering social policies that de-emphasize structural remedies. Drawing on a variety of unique methodologies, the book synthesizes data from large-scale surveys of the American population, and it features both conversations with academic experts and interviews with American citizens intimately familiar with the consequences of economic disadvantage. This mixture of approaches gives readers a fuller understanding of “skeptical altruism,” a concept the authors use to describe the American public’s hesitancy to adopt a more robust and structurally-oriented approach to solving the persistent problem of economic disadvantage.

Details

University Press Copublishing Division / Lehigh University Press

Pages: 302 • Trim: 6¼ x 9¼

978-1-61146-234-0 • Hardback • February 2020 • $128.00 • (£98.00)

978-1-61146-236-4 • Paperback • March 2022 • $42.99 • (£35.00)

978-1-61146-235-7 • eBook • February 2020 • $40.50 • (£30.00)

Subjects: Social Science / Social Classes & Economic Disparity, Social Science / American Studies, Social Science / Economic Geography

Author

Lawrence M. Eppard is assistant professor of sociology at Shippensburg University.

Mark Robert Rank is the Herbert S. Hadley Endowed Professor of Social Welfare at Washington University in St. Louis.

Heather E. Bullock is professor of psychology at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1The Problem with American Individualism

PART I: Social Science Perspectives

Chapter 2The American Inequality Palette

Chapter 3Social Psychological Functions of Inequality Beliefs

Chapter 4In Conversation

PART II: Individualism on the Ground

Chapter 5Cleaning the Ivory Tower

Chapter 6Paved with Good Intentions

PART III: The Big Picture

Chapter 7Inequality Beliefs and Social Justice

Afterword

References

Index

About the Authors

Reviews

Despite this text's range of authors and contributors, including Henry Giroux and Noam Chomsky, the book's main thrust is social psychological. It surveys recent writing and research that outlines and seeks to explain why the US is an outlier among affluent (principally European) nations in its minimalist approach to social programs and policies to mitigate poverty. Though recognizing that racism, i.e., the popular view that “redistribution favors racial minorities,” has always infested policy choices and that the US “political system is geared towards preventing redistribution,” the authors emphasize individualism as the force that explains cross-national differences. This ideology is reinforced by an “underdeveloped non-individualistic vocabulary” and an unpopular sociological counter-narrative. System-justification research is cited to explain why “low-income and working-class people endorse hierarchy-enhancing beliefs that go against their own self-interest,” a concept also explored in Thomas Frank's What’s the Matter with Kansas? (2004). . . its many voices make this a useful text that raises fundamental questions about inequality beliefs. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through graduate students.

— Choice Reviews

Rugged Individualism and the Misunderstanding of American Inequality offers an important analysis of working-class Americans who have lost ground economically and struggle to make sense of their plight using the available cultural resources. This book is creative, insightful, and original.
— Peter Callero, professor of sociology, Western Oregon University

Why is there so much poverty in the United States, a country with so much wealth? In a meticulously argued and well-written book, Eppard, Rank, and Bullock pursue this question by taking readers on a deep dive into the American culture of individualism. The authors' multifaceted investigation of this individualistic ethos and the powerful role it plays in limiting policy options is a tremendous accomplishment. Rugged Individualism and the Misunderstanding of American Inequality is a must-read book, a timely and indispensable contribution to our understanding of poverty, inequality, and the workings of American politics.
— Edward Royce, professor emeritus of sociology, Rollins College; author of The Origins of Southern Sharecropping, Classical Social Theory and Modern Society, and Poverty and Power

Drawing on social scientific research, expert opinion, and everyday experience, Eppard, Rank, and Bullock reveal how the mystique of individualism has been used to justify ever-escalating levels of economic inequality in the contemporary United States. Rigorously argued and accessibly written, Rugged Individualism and the Misunderstanding of American Inequality is a model of engaged public scholarship and collaborative social inquiry that invites us to take the critical first steps toward a more just and equitable future.
— Alice O'Connor, professor of history and director of the Blum Center for Global Poverty Alleviation and Sustainable Development