Paramilitarism and Neoliberalism: Violent Systems of Capital Accumulation in Colombia and Beyond

variables—as illustrated, for instance, by the well-known work of William Julius Wilson. We thus learn a bit about what ordinary Americans over time have understood the American Dream to be and quite a lot more about what scholars investigating that dream (or ideas related to it) have understood it to be and how they have thought various segments of the population have experienced it. Overall, this amounts to an interesting history of the sociology of the American Dream. The book proceeds in chronological order. Chapter One sets the stage by delving briefly but deeply into the early historical roots (from the early colonial days of the country to the nation’s birth and then the nineteenth century) of the concept of the American Dream. Chapter Two concentrates on the work of scholars such as W. E. B. Du Bois and Jane Addams who were writing in the first decade of the 1900s about particular segments of the American population, such as African Americans and the poor. Chapter Three extends the analysis to writings from the 1920s of scholars like Pitirim Sorokin (with their focus, among other things, on social mobility), and Chapter Four continues with the period between the two world wars, including the Great Depression. Here, the early work of Robert Merton, among others, is discussed. Chapter Six considers the immediate postwar years, the booming economy, and the stable political environment, with attention to how different economic classes experienced the American Dream. In these pages, as one would expect, the classic writings of David Riesman, among many others, are examined. In Chapter Seven, Hauhart discusses scholars of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s who critiqued American culture, especially in relation to the middle class. Sociological analyses of the American Dream during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s reflected the economic problems facing the nation: stagflation, the oil crisis, and growing inequality. This is the theme of Chapter Eight. Chapters Nine, Ten, and Eleven consider contemporary work, mostly as it relates to specific subgroups: blacks, those who live alone (think Robert Putnam), the homeless, and students at private liberal arts colleges. It is in regard to the homeless that Hauhart discusses findings from his own research. This happens a bit abruptly but comes of course as a welcome change. The interviews at the core of his work reveal a fair amount about what homeless Americans think about the American Dream. There are several key takeaways that make the book worth reading. First, most obviously, sociologists (and others) have indeed spent considerable time thinking about, and analyzing, the American Dream. Second, there has been great variation in the methods, merits, and limitations of sociological analyses over time. This is in part because sociologists themselves have reflected the conceptual and methodological biases of their times. Third, while the American Dream may refer to a relatively simple concept (i.e., the idea that economic improvement is available to anyone from anywhere who is willing to work hard and play by the rules), what it has meant specifically for various segments of the population over time has varied dramatically. This is due to a host of cultural, structural, political, and economic reasons. Fourth, variations aside, the dream remains intensely present in the American mindset. As such, it should constitute a basis from which to study American culture more generally. All this means that, despite the misalignment between the initial framing (and even the concluding chapter) of the book and its actual content, Hauhart has written a valuable book. It should serve as an important reference guide for those eager to conduct research on the American Dream as well as those interested in teaching courses on it.