[lbo-talk] Hofstadter

Seth Ackerman sethackerman1 at verizon.net
Thu Mar 9 20:42:39 PST 2006


Doug Henwood wrote:


> Speaking of Hofstadter, what is his reputation these days? It's
> amazing how fresh so much of the paranoid style seems today.
>
> Doug
> ___________________________________
> http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
>

Within the discipline, he's inevitably grouped in with and tarred as a consensus historian. Most historians in early-to-mid career today are part of a cohort that rebelled specifically against the consensus bent. The focus has shifted more towards studying out-groups and their struggles, rather than identifying broad, encompassing patterns of "American" life.

In any case, I gather there are relatively few historians under 60 who have strong opinions about Hofstadter since political history almost doesn't exist anymore, so he's just not in their sub-field.

Seth



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