Magazines and the Making of America

Abstract

© Copyright, Princeton University Press. No part of this book may be distributed, posted, or reproduced in any form by digital or mechanical means without prior written permission of the publisher. Heather A. Haveman. Magazines and the Making of America: Modernization, Community, and Print Culture, 1741-1860. Princeton University Press, 2015. Chap t e r 1 Introduction M edia have tremendous impacts on society. Most basically, books, newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and the In- ternet provide us with facts about our world that shape our understanding and our actions: details of political races and sports contests; prices for goods and services; statistics and forecasts about weather and the economy; news of advances in science and medicine; and stories about nota- ble accomplishments, happy occasions, and shameful events. In addition to “just the facts,” the media offer us opinions that subtly influence what we know and how we behave: commentaries on politics and the economy; re- views of the arts and literature, entertainment, fashion, and gadgets; praise and criticism of prominent individuals and groups; and advice about health, finances, work, hobbies, romance, and family. Last but not least, the media entertain us with a mix of fact and fiction, both tragedy and comedy. By trans- mitting facts, opinions, and entertainment, media literally mediate between people, weaving “invisible threads of connection” (Starr 2004: 24) that con- nect geographically dispersed individuals into cohesive communities whose members share knowledge, goals, values, and principles (Park 1940; Anderson My focus on media leads me away from the view that communities are col- lections of people with common interests and identities in particular localities (towns, cities, or neighborhoods), which is how urban sociologists tend to define community (e.g., Duncan et al. 1960; Warner 1972; Fischer 1982). I am instead interested in how media like magazines make it possible to build translocal communities—collections of people with common interests, be- liefs, identities, and activities who recognize what they have in common but who are geographically dispersed and cannot easily meet face-­to-­face. Their interactions are literally mediated by media (Tarde 1969; Thompson 1995). Media support a realm of social life that lies in between the state and the individual, variously labeled “civil society” (Ferguson 1767) or “the public sphere” (Habermas [1962] 1991). This realm of social life is constituted by openly accessible information and communication about matters of general concern; it springs from conversation, connection, and common action. In this realm, people assemble to discuss and engage with politics and public policy, an exercise that is essential for the functioning of democracy. Starting with Alexis de Tocqueville ([1848] 2000), many scholars have argued that the higher the quality of discourse and the larger the quantity of participation in For general queries, contact webmaster@press.princeton.edu

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