Robert Nisbet - The Quest for Community

About this Episode

Nisbet argues that Enlightenment individualism has created a widening gulf between the individual and those social relationships that offer meaning. He says the modern release of the individual from traditional ties of class, religion, and kinship has made him free; but this freedom is accompanied by a sense of disenchantment and alienation. Humans have need for a clear sense of cultural purpose, membership, status, and continuity. He calls for a decentralization of power in society, including an enhanced role for 'intermediary instutitions' that constitute the formal interpersonal relationships in society.