William James

William James

By the end of the 19th century, a set of social earthquakes rocked the United States:

1.the transformation of the economy from agriculturally-based to industrially-driven

2. the migration of millions from Eastern Europe, Southern Europe and Asia

3. the rise of urbanization: in 1860 there had been 49 cities over 10,000 in population; by 1900 there were 645

 

The overwhelming truth of this upheaval was that a simpler and more homogeneous nation quite suddenly had become complicated, heterogeneous. William James, one of the great thinkers of the time, called it Pluralism. He delighted in variety of all sorts, most famously celebrating The Varieties of Religious Experience. James called not just for tolerance of complexity and multiplicity: he saw this as a wonderful philosophical and psychological opportunity to expand the meaning of life. Directly and indirectly, James’ views influenced such key figures in seeing the possibilities of pluralism as Randolph Bourne, Margaret Mead, W. E. B. DuBois. Others went far beyond James, and saw that the pluralistic universe demanded a radical transformation of society, of government, of the economy, and ultimately of human beings themselves.

Jane Addams

Jane Addams

For others, pluralism presented a problem. Some wanted to return to the less complicated era of the early nation by eliminating immigration, restricting the rights of minorities, rejecting the demands of women for an equal share of the opportunities in society. Others, such as Jane Addams and John Dewey, accepted the inevitability of the changes in society, but insisted that over time such diversity inevitably would give way to a process of unification, often termed Americanization. Eventually Zangwill’s image of a “melting pot” became an easy way to express this optimistic hope that the confusion of American life might give way, through education, to a middle-class utopia.