How much scope for individual freedom seems to exist in this society? What would he think of Kerr’s idea of consensus?
In the wake of World War II, the Industrial society was triumphant and agrarianism was defeated. During the 1950s, Americans engaged in a broad discussion of the costs and benefits of the industrial society. Read the following FOUR sources:
Clark Kerr on the Industrial Man (1960)
C. Wright Mills on Cheerful Robots (1959)
MLK, Jr., Nobel Prize Lecture (1964)
Then address each of the following FOUR prompts with a 150-200-word paragraph. Your answer should have two parts: (1) your ‘short’ answer (that is, one or two sentences in which you directly address the prompt), and (2) specific evidence to support that short answer (references to specific passages, quotes, etc., that help you make your case). Question 1. 10 pts
In his excerpt from Industrialism and Industrial Man, Clark Kerr, the President of the University of California-Berkeley, lays out his vision for the “industrial society.” How much scope for individual freedom seems to exist in this society?Question 2. 10 pts
In his excerpt from The Sociological Imagination, what does C. Wright Mills mean by ‘cheerful robots’? What would he think of Kerr’s idea of consensus? Question 3. 10 pts
In his 1964 speech upon winning the Nobel Peace Prize, Martin Luther King presented a critique of the affluent society of the 1950s and 60s. What do you think King would say to Clark Kerr after reading the same excerpt from Industrialism and Industrial Man that you just did?
