On excerpts from "The History of Men" by M. Kimmel. Excerpt - Politics Forum.org | PoFo

Wandering the information superhighway, he came upon the last refuge of civilization, PoFo, the only forum on the internet ...

Saved posts from the old blog area.
#13055217
So, I dabbled in "The History of Men" by Michael S. Kimmel. I found some interesting passages and this is one from page 128. I mostly only read his essay "From Lord and Master to Cuckold and Fop" which is subtitled Masculinity in 17th-Century England. There are some interesting capitalist analysis on sexuality, that pretty much confirm my social-constructivist viewpoint.

I transcribed this, which is why I can't link the website. I had transcribed the other three excerpts, too, but intend to release them later. Let's discuss this one, maybe share sources or similar information. What I find interesting is how first-world proles like myself aspire to read Hobbes and Locke yet their likely philosophers only worshiped for what they offer individualistic thinking and, hence, their justifications for capitalism and the like.

Enjoy.


From "The History of Men" by Michael S. Kimmel (p. 128):

" In the decades following the Glorious Revolution, enormous structural changes, set in motion during the century and culminating in the two revolutions, began to resonate in the English family and in relations between men and women. Several important large-scale changes converged on the late 17th-century household, prompting the renegotiation of gender relations, of sexuality and marriage, and a reexamination of the notion of masculinity. Although these changes did not originate in the late 17th century, one important result of the two revolutions was the sweeping away of the intellectual, political, and social obstacles to their transformation of English society.
One crucial set of structural changes hinged on the transformation of the economy in general, and on the organization of work in particular. Individual handicraft production by independent artisans was declining in the cities, as artisans were "entering upon their long agony in competition with bigger economic units" (Hill, 1961, p. 308). In the countryside, larger units became increasingly common, as land ownership was consolidated by a new wave of enclosures toward the end of the century. The small independent farmer, the yeomanry, was "disappearing" (Hill, 1961, p. 308), and waves of rural migrants were forced off the land and streamed into London and other cities. "The country is poor, the nation is racked . . . and the humble gentleman is half-starved," Observed Sir Charles Sedly in the House of Commons in November 1691 (cited in Plumb, 1967, p. 136).
Concentration of land ownership and the decline of craft production combined with mercantilist economic doctrines in transforming London from a capital city to a "focal point," a "centre of world trade" (Lockyer, 1964, p. 435; Hill, 1961, p. 266). The ballooning population of the capital was even further exacerbated by late-century changes in the treatment of the poor. Before the Civil War, the Royal Council had often intervened in the localities and provided poor relief and some small measure of security. After 1660, however, the "problem of poverty was left almost entirely to the Justices of the Peace and to private charity" (Lockyer, 1964, p. 445), which meant that poor men and women were left to fend for themselves. Countless numbers descended on London in hopes of finding work, charity, or both.
These economic changes add up to a profound loss of occupational autonomy for a large number of men. Artisans, craftsmen, small shopkeepers, yeoman farmers, and other independent tradesmen and professionals suffered a severe erosion of autonomy in the organization of work. This loss of autonomy may have been ironically abetted by ideological changes that stressed the increasing importance of the individual and political changes that enlarged the franchise. The rise of liberal theory at the end of the century--especially in the work of Locke, and earlier Hobbes and Harrington--indicated a shift "from the collectivity, whether kin or nuclear family, to the individual" (Stone, 1984, p. 402) and provided an ideological grounding for capitalist accumulation, as well as the celebration of individual freedom. Simultaneously, in the late 17th century, the "electorate grew very rapidly," so that despite the exclusion of women, children, and laboring poor males--the electorate included less than 1/30 of the population--Plumb claims that "for the first time in English history [an electorate] had come into being" (Plumb, 1967, pp. 45, 40).
Even though these changes "brought no widening of the franchise" (Hill, 1961, p. 297), it is more important perhaps that contemporaries believed that they augured substantive change. Just when many Englishmen were losing their economic autonomy, ideological shifts indicated that they had gained increased individual independence. One psychological outcome of such contradictory information was a confused and amorphous self-blaming, in which Englishmen had neither relief nor justification for rebellion. There remained "no political outlet for the passions and resentments of those whom their betters expected to work harder for low wages in deplorable living conditions" (Hill, 1961, p. 297) and there was no one, it seemed, to blame but themselves."

The tail has been wagging the dog.. Israel is a[…]

Candace Owens

She has, and to add gravitas to what she has said[…]

@litwin is clearly an Alex Jones type conspirac[…]

Both of them have actually my interest at heart. […]