Individualism & commitment in American life : readings on the themes of Habits of the heart / editors, Robert N. Bellah [and four others].

Includes bibliographical references.

Part one: Introduction -- "America's cultural conversation" / Robert N. BelIah -- from Democracy in America / Alexis de Tocqueville -- Part two: The roots of tradition --, "A modell of Christian charity" / John Winthrop -- "First inaugural address" / Thomas Jefferson -- Aristocracy and Liberty" / Thomas Jefferson -- from Autobiography / Benjamin Franklin -- from Leaves of Grass / Walt Whitman -- Part three: Selfhood and society -- from "Self-reliance" / Ralph Waldo Emerson -- from The Lonely Crowd / David Riesman -- from "In a different voice" / Carol Gilligan -- from Advertisements for myself / Norman Mailer -- from Report from part one / Gwendolyn Brooks -- Part four: Love, marriage, and family -- from "New rules" / Daniel Yankelovich -- from "Love and adulthood in American culture" / Ann Swidler -- from The bonds of womanhood / Nancy Cott -- from "I stand here ironing" / Tillie Olsen -- Part five: Therapeutic thinking and social relations --from The inner American / JosephVeroff, Elizabeth Douvan, and Richard Kulka -- from Therapy and technique / Philip Rieff -- from The managed heart / Arlie Hochschild -- "The gestalt prayer" / Fritz Pens -- from "Civility and psychology" / Robert Coles

(cont.) Part six: The cultural forms and limits of individualism -- from Adventure, mystery, and romance / John G. Cawelti -- from Class differences and sex roles in American kinship and family structure / David M. Schneider and Raymond T. Smith -- from After virtue / Alasdair Maclntyre -- "Reflections in a glass eye" / David Black -- Part seven: Community -- from Canarsie / Jonathan Rieder -- from '"The origins of the underclass" / Nicholas Lemann -- "Rich friends" /Howard Husock -- from The segmented society / Robert H. Wiebe -- Part eight: Callings: work and citizenship -- from Moby Dick / Herman Melville -- from Lives of a cell / Lewis Thomas -- from The culture of professionalism / Burton Bledstein -- from Free spaces / Sara M. Evans and Harry C. Boyte -- from "Letter from Birmingham jail" / Martin Luther King, Jr.

(cont.) Part nine: Religion -- from Americans together / Hervé Varenne -- from "Preachers of paradox" / George M. Marsden -- "Conversion and cultural change" / Steven M. Tipton -- "Revival in America" / Jerry Falwell -- "Courage of conviction: the call of conscience" / Jesse Jackson -- from The social sources of denominationalism / H. Richard Niebuhr -- Part ten: The national society -- from The federalist papers / James Madison -- from Individualism: old and new / John Dewey -- from Reconstructing public philosophy / William M. Sullivan -- "Farewell address" / Dwight D. Eisenhower -- "First inaugural address" / Ronald Reagan -- "Two cities" / Mario Cuomo -- Part eleven: Visions of the future -- "Economic justice for all: Catholic social teaching and the U.S. economy" / National Conference of Catholic Bishops -- from Toward the future / Lay Commission on Catholic Social Teaching and the Economy -- from "Modern Language Association presidential address 1980" / Helen Vendler -- from The unsettling of America / Wendell Berry.

First published in 1985, Habits of the Heart continues to be one of the most discussed interpretations of modern American society, a quest for a democratic community that draws on our diverse civic and religious traditions. In a new preface the authors relate the arguments of the book both to the current realities of American society and to the growing debate about the country's future.