Daniel Bell
American sociologist (1919 to 2011) who described post-industrial society.
At a glance
Main ideas
The end of ideology, Post-industrial society, Cultural contradictions …
See all 4Books to start with
The End of Ideology, The Coming of Post-Industrial Society, The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism
See all 3Connections
Also on this page: Key facts · Links · Sources · Related pages
- Bell was a journalist turned Harvard sociologist, described as one of the leading American intellectuals of the postwar era.
- His three best-known books argued that the grand ideologies were exhausted, that a post-industrial, knowledge-based society was emerging, and that capitalism's culture contradicts its economy.
- He co-edited The Public Interest with Irving Kristol.
- He called himself "a socialist in economics, a liberal in politics, and a conservative in culture".
Why it matters
- His idea of a post-industrial, information-led society anticipated the knowledge economy and is still the standard starting point for it.
Key facts
- Born
- 10 May 1919, Lower East Side, New York City, as Daniel Bolotsky1
- Died
- 25 Jan 2011, at home in Cambridge, Massachusetts1
- Education
- BA, City College of New York (1938); PhD in sociology, Columbia (1961), for The End of Ideology1
- Journalism
- Managing editor of The New Leader from 1941 to 1945; labor editor of Fortune from 1948 to 1958; co-editor of The Public Interest from 1965 to 19731
- Teaching
- Columbia from 1959 to 1969; Harvard until he retired in 19901
- Honours
- American Sociological Association Lifetime Achievement Award (1992); Talcott Parsons Prize (1993); Tocqueville Award (1995)1
Main ideas
-
The end of ideology1
The grand 19th-century ideologies were exhausted in affluent welfare states.
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Post-industrial society1
A service-oriented, information-led society with new technical elites.
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Cultural contradictions1
Consumer culture's self-gratification clashes with the economy's demand for hard work.
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Three realms1
Society divides into cultural, economic and political spheres.
Books to start with
The line under a date fills as it gets older: empty when new, full at 2 years.
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The End of Ideology1
On the exhaustion of political ideas in the fifties.
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The Coming of Post-Industrial Society1
A venture in social forecasting.
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The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism1
Culture against economy.
Connections
Links
Sources
Last checked against its sources today
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