Read Elsewhere, U.S.A.: How We Got From The Company Man, Family Dinners, And The Affluent Society To The Home Office, BlackBerry Moms, And Economic Anxiety (2009)
Elsewhere, U.S.A.: How We Got From The Company Man, Family Dinners, And The Affluent Society To The Home Office, BlackBerry Moms, And Economic Anxiety (2009) - Plot & Excerpts
I was supposed to read this as a book report for my intro to sociology class, but then I never did the report. oops. I did, however, read it. It's alright, as far as academic books go (and I tend to enjoy randomly informing myself about things), but the author kind of struck me as the type of person to wear a tinfoil hat. He seemed really uncomfortable with the broadening of technology/connections despite his/his wife's job depending on them. I don't know...it was kind of annoying. As much economic treatise and discussion of new technology as the sociological study it purports to be but an still a mostly interesting synopsis of how American (largely) society “progressed” from 1959’s loyal, focused, striving Organization Man to 2009’s disloyal, distracted (the Elsewhere in the title refers to the constant mental splitting of attention) and far more driven corporate man and woman. Late in the book Conley says he largely tried to avoid predictions and judgments but clearly the person he is describing comes across as distracted, self-absorbed and struggling to mold sense from complexity. The family and work dynamics described do sound like an accurate depiction but mostly of the upper middle class America of nannies, big houses, business travel and corporate striving. My major annoyance with the book is frequency of using the old management consultant trick of making up new terms as combinations or plays on old terms. People are now “intraviduals” or collections of multiple selves, time can no longer be divided into work and leisure hence the idea of “Weisure”, and people are encouraged to consume as an investment (think of a home equity loan) which terms “covestment.” There are a number more examples to the point that trying to keep track of terms gets to be trying after a while. I can’t say I have heard of any of these ideas gaining traction outside the book.The avoidance of prediction is a smart strategy but it does limit the book to just sociological, economic, and technological review. How will a major economic slowdown affect Elsewhere, USA? Will there be less reason to have to divide time and attention when there is less that needs to be focused on or when the company keeps the Blackberry (“BlackberryNation” would have been a better title) after the downsizing? Will the children that Conley refers to grow up with an inability to focus even when necessary? Will there be a counter-trend of de-laying of multiple selves to a more integrated whole? Maybe it is already time for a sequel.
What do You think about Elsewhere, U.S.A.: How We Got From The Company Man, Family Dinners, And The Affluent Society To The Home Office, BlackBerry Moms, And Economic Anxiety (2009)?
Definitely full of facts and things to think about, whether or not I entirely agree with the thesis.
—lolipop
A should-read book for knowledge workers and entrepreneurs on concepts and social trends.
—tarng
Good book that discusses how our business life is now co-mingling with our personal life
—Rsitges
Mostly boring. I skimmed through and wasn't sucked in.
—singinloud
