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oapen-20.500.12657-317082023-01-31T18:45:57Z Feudal America Shlapentokh, Vladimir Woods, Joshua History Authoritarianism Feudalism Interpersonal relationship bic Book Industry Communication::H Humanities::HB History Do Americans live in a liberal capitalist society, or a society in which big money, private security, and personal relations determine key social outcomes? Shlapentokh and Woods argue that the answer to these questions cannot be found among the conventional models. Offering a new analytical tool, the authors present a provocative explanation of the nature of contemporary society by comparing its essential characteristics to those of medieval European societies. Their feudal model emphasizes five elements: the weakness of the state to protect its citizens, conflict and collusion between and within organizations that involve corruption and other forms of illegal or semilegal actions, the dominance of personal relations in political and economic life, the prevalence of an elitist ideology, and the use of private agents and organizations to provide safety and security. Feudal America urges readers to look for explanations of contemporary social problems in medieval European history. 2017-03-17 23:55 2020-01-28 12:51:38 2020-04-01T13:46:42Z 2020-04-01T13:46:42Z 2011 book 625752 OCN: 780532245 9780271037813 http://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/31708 eng application/pdf n/a 625752.pdf Penn State University Press 10.26530/oapen_625752 100092 10.26530/oapen_625752 09c386a3-3703-4269-ad0d-5c31b279590d b818ba9d-2dd9-4fd7-a364-7f305aef7ee9 9780271037813 Knowledge Unlatched (KU) University Park, PA 100092 KU Select 2016 Backlist Collection Knowledge Unlatched open access
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Do Americans live in a liberal capitalist society, or a society in which big money, private security, and personal relations determine key social outcomes? Shlapentokh and Woods argue that the answer to these questions cannot be found among the conventional models. Offering a new analytical tool, the authors present a provocative explanation of the nature of contemporary society by comparing its essential characteristics to those of medieval European societies.
Their feudal model emphasizes five elements: the weakness of the state to protect its citizens, conflict and collusion between and within organizations that involve corruption and other forms of illegal or semilegal actions, the dominance of personal relations in political and economic life, the prevalence of an elitist ideology, and the use of private agents and organizations to provide safety and security. Feudal America urges readers to look for explanations of contemporary social problems in medieval European history.
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