Lasch, Christopher
Lasch, Christopher (1932–94)An American social historian, whose early work was concerned with the history of the American Left, where his political sympathies lay. He subsequently turned to psychoanalysis and formulated a trenchant critique of modern American society based on the theory of narcissism (see Haven in a Heartless World, 1977, The Culture of Narcissism, 1980, and The Minimal Self, 1984).
In his later years Lasch launched a defence of American populism and communitarianism. For example, in the posthumously published The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy (1995) he attacks America's governing and wealthy elites, who have insulated themselves from the wider society, and feel no responsibility for the welfare of either the poor or the middle classes. The members of this ‘new...
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