{"id":39104,"date":"2024-10-24T22:00:36","date_gmt":"2024-10-25T05:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=39104"},"modified":"2024-10-24T22:00:36","modified_gmt":"2024-10-25T05:00:36","slug":"a-rugged-reparative-work-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/a-rugged-reparative-work-2\/","title":{"rendered":"A Rugged Reparative Work"},"content":{"rendered":"

The history of the United States is steeped in the concept of rugged individualism, a defining trait that has shaped the nation’s identity and culture. From the early settlers who navigated the unknown waters of the New World to the industrial leaders who built empires in the bustling cities of the 19th century, the American spirit has celebrated values such as individual freedom, autonomy, and self-reliance.\"\"<\/a> While rugged individualism has driven progress and innovation, it has also contributed to social challenges and decline.\u00a0 Popularized in political and economic spheres by President Herbert Hoover when he introduced the phrase during his 1928 presidential campaign, where he emphasized the importance of individual initiative and self-reliance. He stated in that speech, \u201cWe were challenged with a peace-time choice between the American system of rugged individualism and a European philosophy of opposed doctrines\u2014doctrines of paternalism and state socialism.\u201d[1]<\/span> For Hoover, rugged individualism was an ideology that would directly impact the nation’s economic success. The concept of rugged individualism persists today and is an important consideration when evaluating the church\u2019s ability to affect social and economic flourishing in the communities it seeks to reach. \u00a0 Other voices speaking into this conversation are Karl Polanyi and Jason Clark. In this post, I will explore a key concept in their analyses: the ‘disembedding’ of economic activity from people’s social relationships and the rise of rugged individualism. As we consider ‘disembedding,’ two additional concepts will also emerge: ‘social capital’ and ‘social imaginaries.’\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Reparative Re-embedding<\/b><\/p>\n

In his book <\/span>The Great Transformation<\/span><\/i>, economic historian Karl Polanyi argues that the market economy is not a natural phenomenon but a socially constructed system. Financial activities are embedded within social and cultural contexts. Polanyi is critical of capitalism, particularly its defining feature, the self-regulating market (SRM).[2]<\/span> Dr. Jason Clark, in his analysis of Polanyi, highlights that the SRM represents the first time the market became disconnected from social ties, especially those found in religious communities like churches.[3]<\/span> Both Polanyi and Clark contend that when the economy is disembedded from the social and ethical constraints present in a community, it ultimately leads to the deterioration of that community. Echoing Polanyi\u2019s call to re-embed economic practices within social and moral frameworks, Clark advocates for reparative practices within evangelical communities to address the disembedding caused by capitalism.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Social Capitalism<\/b><\/p>\n

The work of Robert Putnam supports Polonyi and Clark\u2019s idea that economic practices embedded in social frameworks are most fruitful.\u00a0 He asserts that communities with high levels of what he calls \u201csocial capital\u201d tend to experience greater economic success.[4]<\/span>\u00a0 For Putnam, social capital is connections among individuals – social networks, norms, and trust that facilitate cooperation and collective action within a community. He argues that social capital is essential for a functioning society, as it encourages participation in civic activities and fosters strong interpersonal relationships.[5]<\/span>\u00a0 Communities with high levels of social capital experience trust and cooperation, which can lead to increased accountability, improved individual opportunities, and more robust local economies. While Polanyi is critical of economic capitalism because of its disembedded nature, he and Clark seem to advocate for the reparative effects of re-embedding economic practices in social capitalism.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Social Imaginaries<\/b><\/p>\n

Clark brings into his analyses of Polonyi the work of Canadian Philosopher Charles Taylor and his concept of \u201cSocial Imaginaries.\u201d\u00a0 As Taylor describes it, the social imaginary is a complex web of beliefs, expectations, and assumptions that members of a community share.[6]<\/span>\u00a0 The social imaginary is not a well-defined, clearly articulated set of life principles; instead, it is the lifestyle of individuals, all shaped by the same songs,\u00a0 stories, and images. \u00a0 Theologian and historian Carl Trueman summarizes it by saying, \u201cThe social imaginary is the way people think about the world, how they imagine it to be, how they act intuitively in relation to it\u2026 It is the totality of the way we look at our world, to make sense of it and to make sense of our behavior within it.\u201d[7]<\/span>\u00a0 Some will argue that rugged individualism is a myth, a widely held but false idea society has bought into.\u00a0 Whether they are right or not, rugged individualism is part of the social imagination of American culture, intertwined with the myths that Polonyi and Clark contend uphold the SRM and capitalism.[8]<\/span> The potency of these myths is well stated by Joseph Campbell:<\/span><\/p>\n

Throughout the inhabited world, in all times and under every circumstance, myths of man have flourished, and they have been the living inspiration of whatever else may have appeared out of the activities of the human body and mind. It would not be too much to say that myth is the secret opening through which the inexhaustible energies of the cosmos pour into the human cultural manifestation.[9]<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Repairing the ruins of these myths in our communities will come from a Church that has embraced the restorative peace of Christ and is concerned with not only what it says to the communities in which it exists but also what it does in and for those communities, especially with regards to its financial practices.<\/p>\n

___________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

[1] Herbert Hoover, “Principles and Ideals of the United States Government.” Speech, New York, NY, October 22, 1928. National Archives.<\/span><\/p>\n

[2] Karl Polanyi, The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time<\/em>, 2nd ed. (Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 2001), 5.<\/p>\n

[3] Jason Paul Clark, \u201cEvangelicalism and Capitalism: A Reparative Account and Diagnosis of Pathogeneses in the Relationship\u201d (2018). Faculty Publications \u2013 Portland Seminary. 132. <\/span>https:\/\/digitalcommons.georgefox.edu\/gfes\/132<\/span><\/a>, 124.<\/span><\/p>\n

[4] Robert Putnam,<\/span> Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community<\/span><\/i>, (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000), 288.<\/span><\/p>\n

[5] Robert Putnam,<\/span> Bowling Alone<\/span><\/i>, 19.<\/span><\/p>\n

[6] Charles Taylor, <\/span>A Secular Age<\/span><\/i>, (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2007), 171-172.<\/span><\/p>\n

[7] Carl Trueman,<\/span> The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to the Sexual Revolution<\/span><\/i>, (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2020), 37-38.<\/span><\/p>\n

[8] Clark, \u201cEvangelicalism and Capitalism,\u201d 127. <\/span><\/p>\n

[9] \u00a0Joseph Campbell, <\/span>The Hero with A Thousand Faces, <\/span><\/i>3rd Ed., (Novato, CA: New World Library, 2008), 1.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The history of the United States is steeped in the concept of rugged individualism, a defining trait that has shaped the nation’s identity and culture. From the early settlers who navigated the unknown waters of the New World to the industrial leaders who built empires in the bustling cities of the 19th century, the American […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":194,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3317],"class_list":["post-39104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dlgp03-polanyi-clark","cohort-dlgp03"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/194"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39104"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39104\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39114,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39104\/revisions\/39114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}