The origins of the tradition of positive thinking
Abstract
The following pages are a work in the sociology of culture. I analyze critically the first period of the so-called tradition of positive thinking, which goes from the end of the 19th century to the present positive psychology. This article follows the cultural critique (following Elias´s work) of the so-called “therapeutic gospel”, and its ideal of happiness as something purely psychological and cultural mandatory. The article is centered upon the first self-help books, as key to the diffusion of cultural patterns.Keywords
Therapy Culture, Positive Psychology, Happiness, SuccessReferences
Anker, Roy M. (1999), Self-Help and popular religion in early American culture. An interpetive guide. (I). Wesport, Chicago, Londres: Greenwood Press.
Arteta, Aurelio (2002). La virtud en la mirada. Ensayo sobre la admiración moral. Madrid: Pre-Textos.
Bauman, Zygmunt (2001). La sociedad individualizada. Madrid: Cátedra.
Beard, George M. (1881/1972). American nervousness. Its causes and consequences. New York: Arno Press.
Becker, Dana (2005). The myth of empowerment. Women and the therapeutic culture in America. New York: New York University Press.
Béjar, Helena (2011a). Cultura psicológica y autoayuda: el código psicológico-positivo/ Papers, 96(2), 341-360.
Béjar, Helena (2011b). Códigos de conducta, argumentos y valores en la literatura de consejos/ Papeles del CEIC, 67, 1-34.
Bellah, Robert N.; Madsen, Richard; Sullivan, William M; Swidler, Ann y Tipton, Steven M. (1985). Habits of the heart. Individualism and commitment in American Life. Berkeley: The University of California Press.
Csizszentmitalyi, Mihaly (1990/2011). Fluir. Una psicología de la felicidad. Barcelona: Kairós.
Cushman, Peter (1995). Constructing the self, constructing America. A cultural history of psychotherapy. Boston: Addison-Wesley Pub.
Dresser, Horatio E. (1917). Handbook of the New Thought. Nueva York, London: G.P. Putnam´s Sons.
Dubet, François (2002/2006). El declive de la institución. Profesiones, sujetos e individuos en la modernidad. Barcelona: Gedisa.
Elias, Norbert (1977/1979). El proceso de civilización. México: Fondo de Cultura Económica
Elster, Jon (1983/1988). Uvas amargas. Sobre la subversión de la racionalidad. Barcelona: Península.
Elster, Jon (1999/2002). Alquimias de la mente. La racionalidad y las emociones. Barcelona: Paidos.
Fischer, Claude (2010). Made in America. A social history of American culture and character. Chicago, London: the University of Chicago Press.
Foucault, Michel (1983). On the genealogy of ethics: an overview of work in progress. En Hubert L. Dreyfus y Paul Rabinow, Beyond structuralism and hermeneutics (pp. xxx-xxx). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Foucault, Michel (1987). Historia de la sexualidad III. La inquietud de sí. México: Fondo de Cultura Económica.
Fredrikson, Barbara (2010). Positivity. Groundbreaking research to release your inner optimist and thrive. London: One World.
Hochschild, Arlie Russell (1983). The managed heart. Commertialization of human feeling. Berkeley: Berkeley University Press.
Hochschild, Arlie Russell (2003/2008). La mercantilización de la vida íntima. Apuntes de la casa y el trabajo. Buenos Aires, Madrid: Katz.
Hochschild, Arlie Russell (2012). The outsourced self. Intimate life in market times. New York: Metropolitan Books
Hudson, Deal W. (1995). Happiness and the limits of satisfaction. Boston: Rowman & Littlefield.
Illouz, Eva (2008/2010). La salvación del alma moderna. Terapia, emociones y la cultura de la autoayuda. Buenos Aires, Madrid: Katz
James, William (1897). The will to believe and other essays in popular psychology. New York: Longsman.
James, William (1949). Essays on faith and morals. New York: Longsman
James, William (1983). Principles of psychology. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.
James, William (1902/1986). Las variedades de la experiencia religiosa. Barcelona: Península.
Lasch, Christopher (1991). The true and only heaven. Progress and its critics. New York: London.
Lears, Jackson, T.J. (1983). The culture of consumption. New York: Pantheon Press
McGee, Micky (2006). Self-help Inc. (Makeover culture in American life). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Merton, Robert K. (1949/1984). Teoría y estructura sociales. México: Fondo de Cultura Económica.
Meyer, Donald (1965/1980). The positive thinkers. Religion as pop psychology from Mary Baker Eddy to Oral Roberts. New York: Pantheon Books.
Moskowitz, Eva (2001). In therapy we trust. American obsession for self-fulfillment. London: Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press.
Neiman, Susan (2002/2012). El mal en el pensamiento moderno. México: Fondo de Cultura Económica.
Rose, Nikolas (1990). Governing the self: the shaping of private self. London, New York: Routledge.
Rose, Nikolas (1998). Inventing ourselves: psychology, power and personhood. Cambridge, MA.: Cambridge University Press.
Simmel, Georg (1908/1977). Sociología. Estudios sobre las formas de socialización. Revista de Occidente, 49, 201-208
Smiles, Samuel (1871/1877). Character. New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers.
Smiles, Samuel (1859/2013). Self-Help. Lexington: NY: Seven Treasures Publications.
Stearns, Peter N. (1994). American cool. Constructing a twentieth century emotional style. New York, London: New York University Press.
Stearns, Peter N. (2012). Satisfaction non guaranteed. Dilemmas of progress in modern society. New York, London: New York University Press.
Susman, Warren (1984). Culture as history. The transformations of American society in the twentieth century. Madison: Pantheon Books.
Taylor, Charles (1989). Sources of the self. The making of modern identity. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Trine, Ralph Waldo (1900). Character building through power. New York: Thomas Y. Cromwell & Co. Publishers.
Trine, Ralph Waldo (1897/1995). In tune with the infinite: fullness of peace, power and plenty. London: Thorsons.
Weiss, Richard (1969). The American myth of success: from Horatio Alger to Norman Vincent Peale. New York: Basic Books.
Wood, Henry (1903). The New Thought simplified. How to gain harmony and health. Boston: Lee and Shepard.
Wuthnow, Robert (2006). American mythos. Why our best efforts to be a better nation fall short. Princeton, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Published
How to Cite
Downloads
Copyright (c) 2014 Helena Bejar
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
