New Social Horizons. by Seba EldridgeReview by: L. M. BristolSocial Forces, Vol. 20, No. 2 (Dec., 1941), pp. 276-278Published by: Oxford University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2571353 .

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276 SOCIAL FORCES

NEW SOCIAL HORIZONS. By Seba Eldridge. New York: D. Appleton-Century Company, 194I.

444 PP- $3.50.

A challenging title but one that is liable to arouse hopes not easily fulfilled in these days of almost innumerable "solvents" of social ills! "New," however, as the reader learns after a time, does not mean "different from anything ever proposed" but a "new cultural configuration" for our country to take the place of our present culture-pattern which is held to be entirely inadequate to supply the fundamental needs of free, creative personalities.

The subtitle is suggestive: "Design for a Personality-Centered Culture." The pur- pose is set forth in the Preface: "This work offers an interpretation of contemporary culture in the United States as a complex whole." It has two objectives: "(i) a critical evaluation of existing institutions, group interests, and schemes of life; (z) formulation of 'constructive' proposals looking to the development of a civiliza- tion better suited to the needs of the hu- man spirit:" That phrase "needs of the human spirit" is intriguing and we wonder how these are to be determined.

Among the aspects of this "new configu- ration" which seem most important to the reviewer, are the following:

i. 'Supersession of atomistic controls now dominant, through the development of new economic and political arrange- ments" -p. 4. (We wonder how the average reader will react to that phrase!)

m. Direction of ambition and effort to goods which are essentially non-competi- tive in character-as health, fellowship, appreciation of beauty, etc.-p. 5, de- veloped in Chapter IV.

3. Emphasis on the good life as "resi- dent in the individual consciousness, shaped though it be by social influences"

-P. 7. 4. Recognition of individual need and

social expediency as basic concepts in dis- tributive justice-p. I4. It is not clear, however, as to just how these are to be determined. A committee is suggested.

5. Stability of production and security of income-pp. i6, I9 ff. These last two (4 and 5) make use of the theory that all members of society have "equal and in- alienable rights to the social income" p. I3. The author explains that this means that in the last analysis "land, not made by man is a common, inalienable birthright of the race and that no prin- ciples of 'distributive justice' forbid a more equitable, or even a strictly equal, dis- tribution of wealth yielded by land." He holds that as no man or class has produced land or culture (including the industrial arts), no man or class has a claim to an excessive portion of the social income. This argument, smacking as it does of the "natural rights" emphasis of the i8th century, will probably not prove widely acceptable.

6. Widespread collectivistic organiza- tion of production-Chapters III, VII, VIII, IX. The term "socialization" is used in all but two places (and these not listed in the index) as synonomous with economic collectivism. On pages 377 and 378 we find the phrase "socialization of interests and attitudes." It seems to the reviewer that the sociological and psycho- logical use of this term to connote develop- ment of social attitudes and enlargement of "we-feeling" is more important than its use as practically synonomous with eco- nomic collectivism.

7. Complete coordination of layman (primarily consumer) and specialist in all forms of social control-Chapters V, XII.

8. More complete "socialization" of ready-made education for the masses-now largely under the control of business and political specialists as illustrated in the

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LIBRARY AND WORKSHOP

newspaper, journals, books, pamphlets, reports, radio, movie, etc.-Chapter X.

9. Recognition of the state as "a com- prehensive, integrative organization of the individuals and groups constituting so- ciety . . . representative of their various interests, not a separate authority super- imposing itself upon them" -p. 2I8.

IO. Development of Social Politics. "The proposals herein advanced contem- plate the establishment of a basic social institution, one comparable in appeal and power to, say, the family or the vocation. . . .All institutions, groups, and persons will be greatly influenced, because nothing less than a new kind of state and therewith a new kind of society is contemplated" p. 265. This new type of citizenship will be developed not only in our public schools (with a different curriculum and system of administration than at present), but espe- cially by "public interest groups," includ- ing adult discussion classes, public forums, community institutes, etc. '-pp. 290 f.

ii. Emphasis on such "primary in- terests" as health, family, intellectual, aesthetic and religious values, leisure-time activities, "the deeper attitudes, purposes, and appreciations back of consumption," and the creative interests of the individual -Chapter XIV.

i2z. Vastly increased emphasis on the nurture of creative activity-Chapter XV. The discussion of this chapter reminds one of Miss Follett's Creative Experience.

Preparations for leadership in this "new state" is discussed in Chapter XVI, and the importance of self-discipline, in Chap- ter XVII. Emphasis on the production of things, we are told, must give place to emphasis on the cultivation of creative activities, for only thus can the inner long- ings and capacities of the free, creative, human spirit be satisfied-pp. 374 if. This leads to a discussion of religion which is to be "progressively secular in outlook,

one eventually in harmony with an empiri- cal science and philosophy, though tran- scending them in the cultivation of its own special interests" -pp. 380 if.

The last chapter, Goal and Process is by far the most important of all, summariz- ing, as it does, the essentials of this "new civilization" and the process by which it is to be instituted. "The best civilization is one built for the needs of the human spirit, for the needs of all persons; and adapted, in its operation and growth, to their diverse capacities, temperaments, and circumstances.... It follows that groups and institutions have their raison d'etre in the care and guidance of persons as persons, in giving them the help they require in realizing their finest potential selves.... Nor does it connote 'paternalism,' 'regi- mentation,' in any evil sense, but, on the contrary, the working together of indi- viduals themselves in shaping a civili- zation suited to their infinitely diverse requirements. Just the need of the indi- vidual for responsibility, creative activity, autonomous growth-within the limits of his capacity-will be stressed as funda- mental, because fine living is identified with its satisfaction" -p. 383. Economic collectivism, according to Dr. Eldridge, is central in this new social order: "Only collectively owned enterprises meet the requirement, since individual proprietors can neither coordinate their undertakings in the interest of productive stability and efficiency, nor otherwise serve the needs of worker, consumer, or public, save as this may be compatible with their interests as a special class"-p. 385.

The establishment of this "new civiliza- tion" is to come gradually, and largely as a result of the development of a new public opinion through discussion, but mainly through the extension of collective enter- prises.

An Appendix contains Problems and

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278 SOCIAL FORCES

Projects as a basis for discussion in college classes and interest groups.

The reviewer sympathizes with most of the criticism of our present civilization as given in New Social Horizons, but believes that a somewhat different attack on its reconstruction might prove more prac- ticable. He does not believe, for example, that it is wise to set forth so dogmatically and so much in detail a "blue print" of this new culture-pattern. It would seem to be more democratic to foster its emer- gence by intelligent discussion. One of the first things, it would seem, is to come to some sort of agreement on our social philosophy, with emphasis, of course, on its political aspects. One element in this social philosophy on which agreement would seem to be fairly easy is the need of integrating creative individualism with a sense of social responsibility and effective cooperation in planning for social organi- zation to take the place of our present world-wide social disorganization.

L. M. BRISTOL

University of Florida

COOPERATIVES IN THE UNITED STATES-A BALANCE

SHEET. By Maxwell S. ,Stewart. New York: Public Affairs Committee, Inc., I94I (No. 32.,

Revised). 32. PP. IOO. CASE STUDIES OF CONSUMERS' COOPERATIVES. By H.

Haines Turner. New York: Columbia University Press, I94I. 330 PP. $2.50.

CONSUMERS' COOPERATIVES IN THE NORTH CENTRAL

STATES. By Leonard C. Kercher, Vant W. Kebker, and Wilfred C. Leland, Jr. Edited by Roland S. Vaile. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, I94I. 43I PP- $3-50-

THE CONSUMER MOVEMENT. By Helen Sorenson. New York: Harper and Brothers, I94I. 2.45 PP. $2..50.

INTRODUCTION TO THE COOPERATIVE MOVEMENT.

Edited by Andrew J. Kress. New York: Harper and Brothers, I94I. 370 PP. $3.00.

ABSTRACTS OF THE LAWS PERTAINING TO COOPERATION

IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ITS POSSESSIONS

AND TERRITORIES. By V. J. Tereshtenko, Project

Supervisor. Series A, Part II. Federal Works Agency, Work Projects Administration, Official

Report No. 65-I-97-2I. New York: The Coopera- tive Project, I940. 350 PP. mimeographed.

LEGAL PHASES OF COOPERATION. By Bernhard Ostro- lenk, Project Director; V. J. Tereshtenko and Research Staff. Series A, Part III. Federal Works Agency, Work Projects Administration, Official Project No. i65-z-97-49. New York: The Co- operative Project, I94I. 242. PP. mimeographed.

THE MORALE OF DEMOCRACY. By Hon. Jerry Voorhis. New York: The Greystone Press, I94I. 93 PP. $I.00.

Literature on cooperation continues to gather weight and momentum. Espe- cially since i92w authorship has been com- ing from a wide variety of sources in an increasing stream of printed material, and not without considerable duplication of content and emphasis.

The Public Affairs Committee's booklet, first published in I939, has just been re- vised; the demand had exhausted the origi- nal issue. Objective, inclusive, factual, the pamphlet sets forth philosophy and accomplishment. Cooperatives are not viewed as a cure-all but "the movement has already demonstrated tremendous vi- tality, and has shown that within certain areas . . . it meets a genuine need."

The second and third books in this list, Case Studies of Consumers' Cooperatives and Consumers' Cooperatives in the North Central States, deal so fully with Finnish-American accomplishments that the reader might question whether any non-Finnish coop- erative activities existed or whether any states other than Massachusetts, Michi- gan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin possessed cooperative climate.

Dr. Turner's observations, presented with the utmost fairness and with the warning that he entered upon his studies as of I936 with favorable inclinations to- ward consumer cooperation, embrace the prosperous activities in Maynard, Massa- chusetts and in the Lake Superior region. All twenty chapters, except his introduc- tory treatment of the general nature and

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