Richard Hofstadter
American historian (1916 to 1970) of anti-intellectualism and the paranoid style in politics.
At a glance
Main ideas
Status anxiety, Consensus and conflict, The agrarian myth …
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George Will, Research
See all 2Books to start with
Social Darwinism in American Thought, The American Political Tradition, The Age of Reform …
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C. Wright Mills, Christopher Lasch and 2 others
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Also on this page: Key facts · Links · Sources · Related pages
- Hofstadter was a Columbia University historian and public intellectual who used ideas from social psychology to explain American political history.
- He wrote about social Darwinism, the American political tradition, populism and progressivism, anti-intellectualism and the paranoid style.
- He won the Pulitzer Prize twice.
- He is often grouped with the consensus historians, a label he disliked.
Why it matters
- His ideas of status anxiety, anti-intellectualism and the paranoid style are still standard tools for reading American politics.
Key facts
- Born
- 6 Aug 1916, Buffalo, New York1
- Died
- 24 Oct 1970, Mount Sinai Hospital, Manhattan, of leukaemia, aged 541
- Education
- University at Buffalo; PhD, Columbia (1942)1
- Career
- University of Maryland from 1942 to 1946; Columbia from 1946, DeWitt Clinton Professor of American History from 19591
- Pulitzer Prizes
- 1956 for The Age of Reform; 1964 for Anti-intellectualism in American Life2
Main ideas
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Status anxiety1
Political movements are driven by subconscious motives such as status anxiety.
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Consensus and conflict1
Most of US history involves an implicit consensus shared across conflicts.
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The agrarian myth1
Populism expressed a sentimental attachment to the farm.
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The paranoid style1
A recurring mode of irrational fear in American politics.
Criticism
Books to start with
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Connections
Related
Links
Sources
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