Front cover image for Ages of discord : a structural-demographic analysis of American history

Ages of discord : a structural-demographic analysis of American history

Peter Turchin (Author)
Historical analysis shows that long spells of equitable prosperity and internal peace are succeeded by protracted periods of inequity, increasing misery, and political instability.These crisis periods--"Ages of Discord"--have recurred in societies throughout history. Modern Americans may be disconcerted to learn that the US right now has much in common with the Antebellum 1850s and, more surprisingly, with ancien řgime France on the eve of the French Revolution. Can it really be true that there is nothing new about our troubled time, and that similar ages arise periodically for similar underlying reasons? Ages of Discord marshals Structural-Demographic Theory and detailed historical data to show that this is, indeed, the case. The book takes the reader on a roller-coaster ride through American history, from the Era of Good Feelings of the 1820s to our first Age of Discord, which culminated in the American Civil War, to post-WW2 prosperity and, finally, to our present, second Age of Discord
Print Book, English, 2016
Beresta Books, Chaplin, Connecticut, 2016
History
xiii, 274 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm
9780996139540, 0996139540
960053741
A theoretical introduction (Multi-secular cycles in historical and modern societies ; Modeling structural-demographic processes)
Overview of structural demographic variables: 1780-2010 (Demography and wellbeing ; Elite dynamics
State
dynamics of sociopolitical instability)
A complete secular cycle: from the revolution to the great depression, c.1780-1930 (Long-term trends, 1780-1930 : synthesis ; Antebellum Era ; Road to civil war : a dynamical model of Antebellum America ; From the gilded age tothe new deal)
Current secular cycle : from the great depression to the present, c.1930-2010 (Long-term trends, 1930
2010 : a synthesis ; From the new deal to the reagan revolution : a dynamical model ; social pressure towards instability : from the reagan revolution to the troubles of our times ; Conclusion ; two ages of discord)