The Progressive Era is generally regarded as a period of extraordinary social, political, and economic change, affecting virtually every aspect of American life. In the last decades of the nineteenth century, American social scientists, drawing on their experiences with the German social welfare system, became increasingly interested not merely in identifying problems, but in prescribing means by which to effect social change. This book is an effort to identify the various influences upon critical thinkers, and to examine their approaches to solving the social problems of the time.

Contents

Preface. Acknowledgments. 1. An Introduction to Progressivism 2. Lester Frank Ward: Progenitor of American Progressivism 3. Degeneracy and Directed Order: Charles Horton Cooley and Progressive-Era Sociology 4. Edward Alsworth Ross: The Need for Social Control 5. Richard Theodore Ely: Christian Socialist and Prophet of Paternalism 6. Henry Carter Adams and the Regulatory State 7. Prolegomenon to the Social Philosophy of John Dewey. Conclusion

Author Bio

Charles R. McCann, Jr., is a research associate in the Department of Economics, University of Pittsburgh, USA.