Sociology Faculty Publications Sociology 1-1988 G. H. Mead, Socialism, and the Progressive Agenda Dmitri N. Shalin University of Nevada, Las Vegas,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/sociology_pubs Part of the Politics and Social Change Commons, Social Psychology and Interaction Commons, and the Sociology of Culture Commons Repository Citation Shalin, D. N. (1988). G. H. Mead, Socialism, and the Progressive Agenda. American Journal of Sociology, 93(4), 913-951. https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/sociology_pubs/48 This Article is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Article in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This Article has been accepted for inclusion in Sociology Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship@UNLV. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. G. H. Mead, Socialism, and the Progressive Agendal DmitriN. Shalin SouthernIllinois Universityat Carbondale Mead is known today primarilyfor his originalphilosophy and -socialpsychology. Much less familiarto us is Mead the reformer,a man who sought to balance political engagementwith academic detachmentand who establishedhimself as an astutecritic of con- temporaryAmerican society. This paper examinesMead's political beliefs and his theoryof the reformprocess. Drawing on little- knownsources and archival materials,it demonstratesthat Mead sharedsocialism's humanitarian ends and that,following the domi- nantprogressive ideology of his time,he soughtto accomplishthese ends by constitutionalmeans.