32611

SoSe 13: Benjamin Franklin - Lifeworld and Society at his time

Peter Fischer

Kommentar

The aim of this seminar is not a severe study of Ben Franklins biography, but a sociological understanding of his time and life-world. Franklin (1706-1790) therefore serves us only as example and „social type“. Max Weber outlined him already as a bourgeois, but he was also a citoyen, intellectual and political man. Starting with the discussion of Webers „Protestant Ethic“ we need to understand what kind of society America in the 18th Century was and how it opened up the possibility to be a „Bu¨rger“ in its multilayered sense. Therefore we will discuss the Life-world and the Everyday Life of the People, talk about the social and cultural structure of the society and – of course – read Franklin. • Auslander Leora (2009): Cultural Revolutions: The Politics of Everyday Life in Britain, North America and France. Oxford and New York. • Bradburn, Douglas (2009): The Citizenship Revolution. Politics and the Creation of the American Union, 1774-1804. Charlottesville. • Dickson, Tony/ McLachlan, Hugh V. (1989): In Search of `the Spirit of Capitalism': Weber's Misinterpretation of Franklin. In: Sociology, Vol. 23, Nr. 1. • Faherty, Duncan (2009): Remodeling the Nation. The Architecture of American Identity, 1776-1858. Lebanon/NH. • Franklin, Benjamin (1998). Autobiography and other Writings. New York. • Hawke, David Freeman (1989): Everyday Life in Early America. New York. • Heidler, David Steven/ Heidler, Jeanne T. (2004): Daily Life in the Early American Republic, 1790-1820. Creating a New Nation. Westport and London. • Isaacson, Walter (2003): Benjamin Franklin. An American Life. New York, London, Toronto. • Lipset, Seymour Martin (1963). The First New Nation. New York. • McCarthy, Kathleen (2005): American Creed: Philanthropy and the Rise of Civil Society, 1700-1865. London and Cicago. • Paine, Thomas (2003): Common Sense, The Rights of Man and Other Essential Writings. New York. • Sanders, Thomas (2008): Benjamin Franklin and the American Ideal: Critical Assessments. In: World History Connected. Online unter: http://worldhistoryconnected.press.illinois.edu/4.2/sanders.html • Wallerstein, Immanuel (2011): Modern World-System IV. Centrist Liberalism Triumphant, 1789-1914. Berkeley and Los Angeles. • Weber, Max (2003): The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. London and New York. Schließen