Individualism
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 23602765 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Andy Scerri (0000-0003-3014-1771, Virginia Tech, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2017 |
| Pages | 1-10 |
| Publication date | 2017-12-04 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | CHAPTER |
| Venue | Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social Theory (SOURCE_BOOK) |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/9781118430873.est0676 |
| OpenAlex | W4254610200 |
| ISBN | 9781118430873 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 7 |
Individualism is the social value system that gives precedence to the ethical desires, moral norms, and political demands of singular human beings, over those expressed collectively, such as by local communities, religious sects, nationalities, or class groupings. Individualism arose in Western Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and has been carried across the globe by successive waves of industrial and, later, postindustrial modernization. Individualism has historically taken two forms, neither of which is necessarily progressive (left‐wing) or reactionary (right‐wing), but sustain either ideological position. On the one hand, “modern” individualism values objective rationality, order, and control in a relationship of personal domination over nature. On the other hand, “modernist” individualism values subjective self‐realization and personal authenticity in a relationship of harmony with nature.
Aesthetics · Epistemology · Harmony (color) · Ideology · Individualism · Political science · Politics · Post-industrial society · Rationality · Reactionary · Sociology · Value (mathematics) · Critical Theory and Philosophy · Law · Philosophy · Social and Cultural Dynamics · Weber, Simmel, Sociological Theory
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |