American Society
The term American society is used here to refer to the society of the United States of America. This conventional usage is brief and convenient and implies no lack of recognition for other societies of North, Central, and South America.
Boundaries of modern national societies are permeable and often socially and culturally fuzzy and changeable. Lines on maps do not take into account the cross-boundary flows and linkages of trade, tourists, information, workers, diseases, military arms and personnel, ethnic or linguistic affiliations, and the like. As a large, heterogeneous country, the United States well illustrates such interdependence and cultural diversity.
During the second half of the twentieth century it became increasingly plain that an understanding of American society required analysis of its place in a global system. National societies have become highly interdependent through extensive flows of capital, technology, goods and services, ideas and beliefs, cultural artifacts, and symbols. A world system of politico-military relationships (blocs and hierarchies) interacts with a global system of trade, finance, and population transfers, and both systems are influenced by cultural interpenetration (including organizational forms and procedures).
While these developments were under way, the American people became healthier, life expectancy increased, educational levels rose, income and wealth increased, major new technologies developed (e.g., the so-called Information Revolution), and ethnic and racial minorities gained in income, occupational status, and political participation (Farley 1996).
This page contains 201 words.
American Society article
Read the rest of this article.
This article contains 4,919 words
(approx. 16 pages at 300 words per page).
Order our American Society Article
