Bellah sees this as dangerous and particularly dangerous is the faith of 'Shelia-ism,' the idea that a society can survive so long as everyone has his or her own personal moral code. Social commitment is portrayed as the lifeblood of society, yet all too often the pressures to 'make it' in America mean that people must take time away from volunteerism and spend more time at work. Despite high levels of church attendance, individual responsibilities and intimate relationships define American's sense of identity (Bellah et al. 250). The self is orchestrated as a personal, rather than a social matter. However, while it is difficult to argue that America, as a young nation, has had to work harder to construct binding ties of communal self-interest, the authors do not really provide a clear definition as to what that commonality should be. In the new, diverse America, religion as a social 'glue' seems unlikely. Social forces like the Internet, gated communities, economic polarization, and other aspects of modern life pull Americans apart. 'Good government'...
The sense of ethical obligations demanded by the authors is based upon a tradition that fewer and fewer Americans share. The crisis of meaning many Americans experience cannot be answered by a return to or even a reconfiguration of America's past, because that America no longer exists -- if it ever did. The author's anecdotal evidence makes for compelling reading, but the lack of hard data suggests that there is a certain selectivity in the way that they present their idealized conception of a new America: today's America is less white, less ideologically homogeneous than ever before and a return to older Judeo-Christian civic and religious communitarian beliefs is unlikely to resonate with young, multicultural America.
At the same time, however, citizens use this belief to attempt to get as much as they can from the "system," exhibiting the same qualities that lead them to distrust the government. There is also a deeper element to the problem, however, in what can most succinctly be described as the bastardization of the system of government and society envisioned by the revolutionaries like Madison, Washington, Jefferson, and Hamilton (Bellah,
Culture of Interest: Japan Theoretical foundations of cultural and cross-cultural analysis: Japan and America Japan: Mildly collectivist culture American culture American: An individualistic culture Similarities and differences in Japanese and U.S. culture Potential biases of researcher Appendix I- Hofstede four Dimensional Theory Edward Tylor (1832-1917) defines culture as a collection of customs, laws, morals, knowledge, and symbols displayed by a society and its constituting members. Culture is form of collective expression by groups of people. Since the dawn
Intercultural Communication When people from different cultural backgrounds interact with each other, they face various problems in effectively communicating their messages and expressing their thoughts, expectations, and beliefs (Paulston, Kiesling, & Rangel, 2012). These problems lead to serious intercultural communication issues in multicultural societies. Researchers have found that difference in languages is not the sole reason of intercultural communication problems; people fail to effectively communicate due to different cultural dimensions that
Culture is no small force; it shapes individuals and impacts tremendously on politics (McCartney, 2004). Nations are made up of people, who, from the moment of their birth, are deeply and profoundly shaped by the cultures and customs from whence they came (McCartney, 2004). Because history and culture are two such inseparable animals, it's worthwhile to take a brief look at the history of the Bahamas. Brief History Many history scholars believe
This, he says, is a big challenge considering the fact that all team members along with the top management come from different cultural backgrounds. Polley and Ribbens (1998) in their pioneering research assert that team wellness has got to be tackled in order to create high performance teams. The challenges that need to be over come have been thoroughly researched. The most commonly found problems are: lack of commitment and
Cross-Cultural Communication With increased competition being witnessed in many industries, Multinational companies are setting shop to new foreign markets as a way of increasing their profitability and remaining competitive. Many countries have liberalized their markets, and present advancement in technologies has made it easy for companies to open new branches in foreign markets. However, this also comes with it challenges, particularly relating to cross-cultural communication. Effective cross-cultural communication is very important
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now