The Consciousness ReformationThe late 1960s and early 1970s marked an era of profound social experimentation and cultural transformation. This period saw an explosion of countercultural movements, ranging from communes and alternative family structures to radical political organizations like SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) and SLA (Symbionese Liberation Army). Alongside these visible upheavals, subtler shifts occurred in societal attitudes toward sexuality, race, religion, and politics, reflecting a broader reimagining of fundamental social norms. These changes collectively signify a pivotal moment in American history, with enduring implications for understanding social conflict and transformation. This book seeks to explain the underlying forces driving these shifts by focusing on what we term the "new consciousness"—a cultural evolution that legitimized and encouraged social experimentation. Departing from traditional analyses that attribute unrest to economic or institutional strains, this study explores symbolic cultural constructions and their role in reshaping societal values. By emphasizing how individuals interpret their circumstances rather than solely examining objective conditions, we align with theoretical traditions like those of Weber and symbolic interactionism. Our inquiry examines four dominant meaning systems in American culture—Theism, Individualism, Social Determinism, and Mysticism—and their varying relationships with social experimentation, aiming to uncover how these symbolic frameworks influence attitudes, behaviors, and societal change. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1976. Many titles in the Voices Revived program are also newly available as ebooks, offered at a discounted price to support wider access to scholarly work. |
Contents
| 11 | |
Consciousness and Meaning Systems | 58 |
Testing the Relations | 136 |
Is a Shift in Meaning Systems Taking Place? | 153 |
Alternative Theories of Social Experimentation | 173 |
The Politics of Diversification | 195 |
A The Bay Area as a Cultural Seedbed | 215 |
B Methodological Notes | 225 |
Supplementary Tables | 257 |
Interview Schedule | 269 |
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activities actually Alfred Schutz alternative American Antinomian Bay Area become behavior beliefs Berkeley Chapter church cognitive sophistication consciousness constructed counter-culture cultural developed different meaning systems diversity dominant meaning system economic encounter groups everyday reality evidence example experimentation index factors four meaning systems Gallup gamma Glock Hare Krishna ideas important individualism individualistic meaning systems influence interview Jews for Jesus kinds least liberal background likelihood lives marijuana measure movements mystical meaning systems nature nonconventional one's percent persons political polls proportion Puritan questions radical relations relatively Religion religious respondents Robert Wuthnow scores sexual Seymour Martin Lipset shift significant simply SKIP social arrangements social change social experimentation social experiments social science social-scientific society specific styles submeasures suggests survey symbols Synanon synectics Table Talcott Parsons tend theism theistic Theodore Roszak Total Weighted Sample traditional types transcendent trends understandings values York youth