Overview

The award-winning historian Robert O. Self is the first to argue that the separate threads of that realignment - from civil rights to women's rights, from the antiwar movement to Nixon's ""silent majority,"" from the abortion wars to gay marriage, from the welfare state to neoliberal economic policies - all ran through the politicized American family. All in the Family is a revelatory narrative about the activism on the left and the right that reshaped postwar America. With authority and nuance, Self shows that when we disagree about gender, sex, and family, we are really disagreeing about equality, power, and money - in essence, about the nature and role of government itself. As Mark Schmitt put it in his glowing review in The Washington Monthly, Self, by demonstrating that economic and social issues are one in the same, has rewritten recent American political history ""from its most basic assumptions.""

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Reviews

Self . . . has heroically researched the history of the culture wars from the early 1960s to the present. He offers a provocative analysis that accounts for today's alliance between small-government and social conservatives, on the one hand, and welfare-state and social liberals, on the other . . . All in the Family tells us a great deal about recent political history. --The Wall Street Journal [A] powerful, well-researched account of how the efforts of marginalized groups to assert their rights as citizens ran up against the resistance of entrenched privilege, setting the stage for the polarization that grips US politics today . . . [Self] reminds us that our democracy is an imperfect thing, only as noble as the people who constitute it. --The Boston Globe All in the Family is meticulous, convincing, and engaging . . . Self has written a book that should become the authoritative social history of the U.S. since the 1960s. --Library Journal Most of the stories we have told about American politics in recent decades have tended to divide the world between social issues and economic issues . . . In his new book, All in the Family: The Realignment of American Democracy Since the 1960s, Robert O. Self . . . rewrites this story from its most basic assumptions . . . brilliant. --Mark Schmitt, The Washington Monthly Robert O. Self has done a remarkable thing: he has persuasively reinterpreted the rise of conservative politics in the last third of the twentieth century as rooted in the battle over gender and sexuality. In short, disputes over the 'state of the family' became as much about the nature of the state as about the morality of the family. Self makes many new and fascinating connections between the public and private spheres of American life. --Lizabeth Cohen, author of A Consumers' Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America In this breathtaking chronicle of American politics over the last half century, Robert O. Self points to sexual politics as the source of the shift from liberalism to conservatism. He takes a fresh look at the 'rights revolution' to offer sweeping new interpretations of the rise of 'family values, ' the culture wars, and neoliberalism. Another tour de force from a brilliant historian. --Elaine Tyler May, author of Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era Complex, elegant, and persuasive, Robert O. Self's All in the Family is an extraordinary achievement. It's the best account yet of the challenge to the central icons of gender identity--breadwinner, soldier, heterosexual, wife, mother--and of the powerful countermovements that arose to defend them. Self's magnificent book offers a bold new interpretation of America's rightward tilt and the triumph of free-market capitalism. --Dorothy Sue Cobble, author of The Other Women's Movement: Workplace Justice and Social Rights in Modern America Robert O. Self's All in the Family is a fresh and compelling synthesis of modern American political history, one that puts gender, sexuality, and race at the core of its analysis and overturns simplistic dichotomies between culture and economy. Indispensible for understanding our own times, it recounts the journey from equal rights to family values on a sweeping scale and in perceptive detail. A masterful account. --Margot Canaday, author of The Straight State: Sexuality and Citizenship in Twentieth-Century America

Self . . . has heroically researched the history of the culture wars from the early 1960s to the present. He offers a provocative analysis that accounts for today's alliance between small-government and social conservatives, on the one hand, and welfare-state and social liberals, on the other . . . All in the Family tells us a great deal about recent political history. --The Wall Street Journal [A] powerful, well-researched account of how the efforts of marginalized groups to assert their rights as citizens ran up against the resistance of entrenched privilege, setting the stage for the polarization that grips US politics today . . . [Self] reminds us that our democracy is an imperfect thing, only as noble as the people who constitute it. --The Boston Globe All in the Family is meticulous, convincing, and engaging . . . Self has written a book that should become the authoritative social history of the U.S. since the 1960s. --Library Journal Most of the stories we have told about American politics in recent decades have tended to divide the world between social issues and economic issues . . . In his new book, All in the Family: The Realignment of American Democracy Since the 1960s, Robert O. Self . . . rewrites this story from its most basic assumptions . . . brilliant. --Mark Schmitt, The Washington Monthly Robert O. Self has done a remarkable thing: he has persuasively reinterpreted the rise of conservative politics in the last third of the twentieth century as rooted in the battle over gender and sexuality. In short, disputes over the 'state of the family' became as much about the nature of the state as about the morality of the family. Self makes many new and fascinating connections between the public and private spheres of American life. --Lizabeth Cohen, author of A Consumers' Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America In this breathtaking chronicle of American politics over the last half century, Robert O. Self points to sexual politics as the source of the shift from liberalism to conservatism. He takes a fresh look at the 'rights revolution' to offer sweeping new interpretations of the rise of 'family values, ' the culture wars, and neoliberalism. Another tour de force from a brilliant historian. --Elaine Tyler May, author of Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era Complex, elegant, and persuasive, Robert O. Self's All in the Family is an extraordinary achievement. It's the best account yet of the challenge to the central icons of gender identity--breadwinner, soldier, heterosexual, wife, mother--and of the powerful countermovements that arose to defend them. Self's magnificent book offers a bold new interpretation of America's rightward tilt and the triumph of free-market capitalism. --Dorothy Sue Cobble, author of The Other Women's Movement: Workplace Justice and Social Rights in Modern America Robert O. Self's All in the Family is a fresh and compelling synthesis of modern American political history, one that puts gender, sexuality, and race at the core of its analysis and overturns simplistic dichotomies between culture and economy. Indispensible for understanding our own times, it recounts the journey from equal rights to family values on a sweeping scale and in perceptive detail. A masterful account. --Margot Canaday, author of The Straight State: Sexuality and Citizenship in Twentieth-Century America Self . . . has heroically researched the history of the culture wars from the early 1960s to the present. He offers a provocative analysis that accounts for today's alliance between small-government and social conservatives, on the one hand, and welfare-state and social liberals, on the other . . . All in the Family tells us a great deal about recent political history. The Wall Street Journal [A] powerful, well-researched account of how the efforts of marginalized groups to assert their rights as citizens ran up against the resistance of entrenched privilege, setting the stage for the polarization that grips US politics today . . . [Self] reminds us that our democracy is an imperfect thing, only as noble as the people who constitute it. The Boston Globe All in the Family is meticulous, convincing, and engaging . . . Self has written a book that should become the authoritative social history of the U.S. since the 1960s. Library Journal Most of the stories we have told about American politics in recent decades have tended to divide the world between social issues and economic issues . . . In his new book, All in the Family: The Realignment of American Democracy Since the 1960s, Robert O. Self . . . rewrites this story from its most basic assumptions . . . brilliant. Mark Schmitt, The Washington Monthly Robert O. Self has done a remarkable thing: he has persuasively reinterpreted the rise of conservative politics in the last third of the twentieth century as rooted in the battle over gender and sexuality. In short, disputes over the 'state of the family' became as much about the nature of the state as about the morality of the family. Self makes many new and fascinating connections between the public and private spheres of American life. Lizabeth Cohen, author of A Consumers' Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America In this breathtaking chronicle of American politics over the last half century, Robert O. Self points to sexual politics as the source of the shift from liberalism to conservatism. He takes a fresh look at the rights revolution' to offer sweeping new interpretations of the rise of family values, ' the culture wars, and neoliberalism. Another tour de force from a brilliant historian. Elaine Tyler May, author of Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era Complex, elegant, and persuasive, Robert O. Self's All in the Family is an extraordinary achievement. It's the best account yet of the challenge to the central icons of gender identity--breadwinner, soldier, heterosexual, wife, mother--and of the powerful countermovements that arose to defend them. Self's magnificent book offers a bold new interpretation of America's rightward tilt and the triumph of free-market capitalism. Dorothy Sue Cobble, author of The Other Women's Movement: Workplace Justice and Social Rights in Modern America Robert O. Self's All in the Family is a fresh and compelling synthesis of modern American political history, one that puts gender, sexuality, and race at the core of its analysis and overturns simplistic dichotomies between culture and economy. Indispensible for understanding our own times, it recounts the journey from equal rights to family values on a sweeping scale and in perceptive detail. A masterful account. Margot Canaday, author of The Straight State: Sexuality and Citizenship in Twentieth-Century America Self . . . has heroically researched the history of the culture wars from the early 1960s to the present. He offers a provocative analysis that accounts for today's alliance between small-government and social conservatives, on the one hand, and welfare-state and social liberals, on the other . . . All in the Family tells us a great deal about recent political history. -- The Wall Street Journal [A] powerful, well-researched account of how the efforts of marginalized groups to assert their rights as citizens ran up against the resistance of entrenched privilege, setting the stage for the polarization that grips US politics today . . . [Self] reminds us that our democracy is an imperfect thing, only as noble as the people who constitute it. -- The Boston Globe All in the Family is meticulous, convincing, and engaging . . . Self has written a book that should become the authoritative social history of the U.S. since the 1960s. -- Library Journal Most of the stories we have told about American politics in recent decades have tended to divide the world between social issues and economic issues . . . In his new book, All in the Family: The Realignment of American Democracy Since the 1960s, Robert O. Self . . . rewrites this story from its most basic assumptions . . . brilliant. --Mark Schmitt, The Washington Monthly Robert O. Self has done a remarkable thing: he has persuasively reinterpreted the rise of conservative politics in the last third of the twentieth century as rooted in the battle over gender and sexuality. In short, disputes over the 'state of the family' became as much about the nature of the state as about the morality of the family. Self makes many new and fascinating connections between the public and private spheres of American life. --Lizabeth Cohen, author of A Consumers' Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America In this breathtaking chronicle of American politics over the last half century, Robert O. Self points to sexual politics as the source of the shift from liberalism to conservatism. He takes a fresh look at the 'rights revolution' to offer sweeping new interpretations of the rise of 'family values, ' the culture wars, and neoliberalism. Another tour de force from a brilliant historian. --Elaine Tyler May, author of Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era Complex, elegant, and persuasive, Robert O. Self's All in the Family is an extraordinary achievement. It's the best account yet of the challenge to the central icons of gender identity--breadwinner, soldier, heterosexual, wife, mother--and of the powerful countermovements that arose to defend them. Self's magnificent book offers a bold new interpretation of America's rightward tilt and the triumph of free-market capitalism. --Dorothy Sue Cobble, author of The Other Women's Movement: Workplace Justice and Social Rights in Modern America Robert O. Self's All in the Family is a fresh and compelling synthesis of modern American political history, one that puts gender, sexuality, and race at the core of its analysis and overturns simplistic dichotomies between culture and economy. Indispensible for understanding our own times, it recounts the journey from equal rights to family values on a sweeping scale and in perceptive detail. A masterful account. --Margot Canaday, author of The Straight State: Sexuality and Citizenship in Twentieth-Century America [A] powerful, well-researched account of how the efforts of marginalized groups to assert their rights as citizens ran up against the resistance of entrenched privilege, setting the stage for the polarization that grips US politics today . . . [Self] reminds us that our democracy is an imperfect thing, only as noble as the people who constitute it. -- The Boston Globe All in the Family is meticulous, convincing, and engaging . . . Self has written a book that should become the authoritative social history of the U.S. since the 1960s. -- Library Journal Most of the stories we have told about American politics in recent decades have tended to divide the world between social issues and economic issues . . . In his new book, All in the Family: The Realignment of American Democracy Since the 1960s, Robert O. Self . . . rewrites this story from its most basic assumptions . . . brilliant. --Mark Schmitt, The Washington Monthly Robert O. Self has done a remarkable thing: he has persuasively reinterpreted the rise of conservative politics in the last third of the twentieth century as rooted in the battle over gender and sexuality. In short, disputes over the 'state of the family' became as much about the nature of the state as about the morality of the family. Self makes many new and fascinating connections between the public and private spheres of American life. --Lizabeth Cohen, author of A Consumers' Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America In this breathtaking chronicle of American politics over the last half century, Robert O. Self points to sexual politics as the source of the shift from liberalism to conservatism. He takes a fresh look at the 'rights revolution' to offer sweeping new interpretations of the rise of 'family values, ' the culture wars, and neoliberalism. Another tour de force from a brilliant historian. --Elaine Tyler May, author of Homeward Bound: American Familie Most of the stories we have told about American politics in recent decades have tended to divide the world between social issues and economic issues . . . In his new book, All in the Family: The Realignment of American Democracy Since the 1960s, Robert O. Self . . . rewrites this story from its most basic assumptions . . . brilliant. --Mark Schmitt, The Washington Monthly Robert O. Self has done a remarkable thing: he has persuasively reinterpreted the rise of conservative politics in the last third of the twentieth century as rooted in the battle over gender and sexuality. In short, disputes over the 'state of the family' became as much about the nature of the state as about the morality of the family. Self makes many new and fascinating connections between the public and private spheres of American life. --Lizabeth Cohen, author of A Consumers' Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America In this breathtaking chronicle of American politics over the last half century, Robert O. Self points to sexual politics as the source of the shift from liberalism to conservatism. He takes a fresh look at the 'rights revolution' to offer sweeping new interpretations of the rise of 'family values, ' the culture wars, and neoliberalism. Another tour de force from a brilliant historian. --Elaine Tyler May, author of Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era Complex, elegant, and persuasive, Robert O. Self's All in the Family is an extraordinary achievement. It's the best account yet of the challenge to the central icons of gender identity--breadwinner, soldier, heterosexual, wife, mother--and of the powerful countermovements that arose to defend them. Self's magnificent book offers a bold new interpretation of America's rightward tilt and the triumph of free-market capitalism. --Dorothy Sue Cobble, author of The Other Women's Movement: Workplace Justice and Social Rights in Modern America Robert O. Self has done a remarkable thing: he has persuasively reinterpreted the rise of conservative politics in the last third of the twentieth century as rooted in the battle over gender and sexuality. In short, disputes over the 'state of the family' became as much about the nature of the state as about the morality of the family. Self makes many new and fascinating connections between the public and private spheres of American life. --Lizabeth Cohen, author of A Consumers' Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America In this breathtaking chronicle of American politics over the last half century, Robert O. Self points to sexual politics as the source of the shift from liberalism to conservatism. He takes a fresh look at the 'rights revolution' to offer sweeping new interpretations of the rise of 'family values, ' the culture wars, and neoliberalism. Another tour de force from a brilliant historian. --Elaine Tyler May, author of Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era Complex, elegant, and persuasive, Robert O. Self's All in the Family is an extraordinary achievement. It's the best account yet of the challenge to the central icons of gender identity--breadwinner, soldier, heterosexual, wife, mother--and of the powerful countermovements that arose to defend them. Self's magnificent book offers a bold new interpretation of America's rightward tilt and the triumph of free-market capitalism. --Dorothy Sue Cobble, author of The Other Women's Movement: Workplace Justice and Social Rights in Modern America Robert O. Self's All in the Family is a fresh and compelling synthesis of modern American political history, one that puts gender, sexuality, and race at the core of its analysis and overturns simplistic dichotomies between culture and economy. Indispensible for understanding our own times, it recounts the journey from equal rights to family values on a sweeping scale and in perceptive

<p> Self . . . has heroically researched the history of the culture wars from the early 1960s to the present. He offers a provocative analysis that accounts for today's alliance between small-government and social conservatives, on the one hand, and welfare-state and social liberals, on the other . . . All in the Family tells us a great deal about recent political history. -- The Wall Street Journal <br> [A] powerful, well-researched account of how the efforts of marginalized groups to assert their rights as citizens ran up against the resistance of entrenched privilege, setting the stage for the polarization that grips US politics today . . . [Self] reminds us that our democracy is an imperfect thing, only as noble as the people who constitute it. -- The Boston Globe <br> All in the Family is meticulous, convincing, and engaging . . . Self has written a book that should become the authoritative social history of the U.S. since the 1960s. -- Library Journal <br> Most of the stories we have told about American politics in recent decades have tended to divide the world between social issues and economic issues . . . In his new book, All in the Family: The Realignment of American Democracy Since the 1960s, Robert O. Self . . . rewrites this story from its most basic assumptions . . . Brilliant. --Mark Schmitt, The Washington Monthly <br> Robert O. Self has done a remarkable thing: he has persuasively reinterpreted the rise of conservative politics in the last third of the twentieth century as rooted in the battle over gender and sexuality. In short, disputes over the 'state of the family' became as much about the nature of the state as about the morality of the family. Self makes many new and fascinating connections between the public and private spheres of American life. --Lizabeth Cohen, author of A Consumers' Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America <br> In this breathtaking chronicle of American politics over th

Self . . . has heroically researched the history of the culture wars from the early 1960s to the present. He offers a provocative analysis that accounts for today's alliance between small-government and social conservatives, on the one hand, and welfare-state and social liberals, on the other . . . All in the Family tells us a great deal about recent political history. -- The Wall Street Journal [A] powerful, well-researched account of how the efforts of marginalized groups to assert their rights as citizens ran up against the resistance of entrenched privilege, setting the stage for the polarization that grips US politics today . . . [Self] reminds us that our democracy is an imperfect thing, only as noble as the people who constitute it. -- The Boston Globe All in the Family is meticulous, convincing, and engaging . . . Self has written a book that should become the authoritative social history of the U.S. since the 1960s. -- Library Journal Most of the stories we have told about American politics in recent decades have tended to divide the world between social issues and economic issues . . . In his new book, All in the Family: The Realignment of American Democracy Since the 1960s, Robert O. Self . . . rewrites this story from its most basic assumptions . . . brilliant. --Mark Schmitt, The Washington Monthly Robert O. Self has done a remarkable thing: he has persuasively reinterpreted the rise of conservative politics in the last third of the twentieth century as rooted in the battle over gender and sexuality. In short, disputes over the 'state of the family' became as much about the nature of the state as about the morality of the family. Self makes many new and fascinating connections between the public and private spheres of American life. --Lizabeth Cohen, author of A Consumers' Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America In this breathtaking chronicle of American politics over the last half century, Robert O. Self points to sexual politics as the source of the shift from liberalism to conservatism. He takes a fresh look at the 'rights revolution' to offer sweeping new interpretations of the rise of 'family values, ' the culture wars, and neoliberalism. Another tour de force from a brilliant historian. --Elaine Tyler May, author of Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era Complex, elegant, and persuasive, Robert O. Self's All in the Family is an extraordinary achievement. It's the best account yet of the challenge to the central icons of gender identity--breadwinner, soldier, heterosexual, wife, mother--and of the powerful countermovements that arose to defend them. Self's magnificent book offers a bold new interpretation of America's rightward tilt and the triumph of free-market capitalism. --Dorothy Sue Cobble, author of The Other Women's Movement: Workplace Justice and Social Rights in Modern America Robert O. Self's All in the Family is a fresh and compelling synthesis of modern American political history, one that puts gender, sexuality, and race at the core of its analysis and overturns simplistic dichotomies between culture and economy. Indispensible for understanding our own times, it recounts the journey from equal rights to family values on a sweeping scale and in perceptive detail. A masterful account. --Margot Canaday, author of The Straight State: Sexuality and Citizenship in Twentieth-Century America

Self . . . has heroically researched the history of the culture wars from the early 1960s to the present. He offers a provocative analysis that accounts for today's alliance between small-government and social conservatives, on the one hand, and welfare-state and social liberals, on the other . . . All in the Family tells us a great deal about recent political history. -- The Wall Street Journal [A] powerful, well-researched account of how the efforts of marginalized groups to assert their rights as citizens ran up against the resistance of entrenched privilege, setting the stage for the polarization that grips US politics today . . . [Self] reminds us that our democracy is an imperfect thing, only as noble as the people who constitute it. -- The Boston Globe All in the Family is meticulous, convincing, and engaging . . . Self has written a book that should become the authoritative social history of the U.S. since the 1960s. -- Library Journal Most of the stories we have told about American politics in recent decades have tended to divide the world between social issues and economic issues . . . In his new book, All in the Family: The Realignment of American Democracy Since the 1960s, Robert O. Self . . . rewrites this story from its most basic assumptions . . . brilliant. --Mark Schmitt, The Washington Monthly Robert O. Self has done a remarkable thing: he has persuasively reinterpreted the rise of conservative politics in the last third of the twentieth century as rooted in the battle over gender and sexuality. In short, disputes over the 'state of the family' became as much about the nature of the state as about the morality of the family. Self makes many new and fascinating connections between the public and private spheres of American life. --Lizabeth Cohen, author of A Consumers' Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America In this breathtaking chronicle of American

Author Information

Robert O. Self is a professor of history at Brown University. His first book, American Babylon: Race and the Struggle for Postwar Oakland, won numerous awards, including the James A. Rawley Prize from the Organization of American Historians. He lives in Providence, Rhode Island.

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