 First edition | |
| Author | Paul Goodman |
|---|---|
| Subject | Sociology |
| Published | 1965 (Random House) |
| Pages | 247 |
| OCLC | 918343863 |
| LC Class | HN58 G66 |
People or Personnel is a critique of centralized power written by Paul Goodman and published by Random House in 1965.
An essay on anarchism in management described the book as being demonstrative of the "practical anarchism" epoch of the 1960s and 1970s. [1]
Some of the book's writing originated in his notes for a seminar in urban affairs at University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. [2] These "Notes on Decentralization" were published in Dissent in 1964, republished in his 1977 expanded edition of Drawing the Line , and appeared in other edited volumes. [3]
Random House published People or Personnel: Decentralizing and the Mixed System in 1965. [4] Its appendices contain five previously published articles: "Getting into Power" (Liberation, 1962); "Avoiding Responsibility" (previously "The Establishment as a Moral Illegitimate" in Village Voice, 1964); "A New Deal for the Arts" (Commentary, 1964); "Engaged Editing" (his preface to Seeds of Liberation, 1964); and "An Example of Spontaneous Administration (previously "Columbia's Unorthodox Seminars" in Harper's, 1964). [5] This edition also includes three public memoranda as appendices: to the Poverty Program, the Office of Education, and the Ford Foundation. [4] The aforementioned articles referred to his forthcoming book on decentralization by different titles, including Ways of Running Things and Decentralizing and the Mixed System. [6]
Sections of the book were later reprinted in Frank Tannenbaum's A Community of Scholars: The University Seminars at Columbia (1965), Ronald Gross and Paul Osterman's Individualism: Man in Modern Society (1971), and Liberation magazine. [7] The book's first chapter, originally published as "On Some Prima Facie Objections to Decentralism" (Liberation, 1964), was condensed and reprinted in the 1966 edited volume Patterns of Anarchy. [8] People or Personnel's manuscripts and galley proof are held in Syracuse University's special collections. [4]
Vintage Books published a dual paperback edition in February 1968 combining People or Personnel with Like a Conquered Province , with additional republished essays for the latter's appendices. [4]
People or Personnel is among Goodman's best known works of social criticism. [9]
Liberation was a 20th-century pacifist journal published 1956 through 1977 in the United States. A bimonthly and later a monthly, the magazine identified in the 1960s with the New Left.
Growing Up Absurd is a 1960 book by Paul Goodman on the relationship between American juvenile delinquency and societal opportunities to fulfill natural needs. Contrary to the then-popular view that juvenile delinquents should be led to respect societal norms, Goodman argued that young American men were justified in their disaffection because their society lacked the preconditions for growing up, such as meaningful work, honorable community, sexual freedom, and spiritual sustenance.
Five Years is an autobiographical collection of Paul Goodman's notebooks between 1955 and 1960.
The Democracy Project: A History, a Crisis, a Movement is anthropologist David Graeber's 2013 book-length, inside account of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Graeber evaluates the beginning of the movement, the source of its efficacy, and the reason for its eventual demise. Interspersed is a history of democracy, both direct and indirect, throughout many different times and places. In contrast to many other evaluations of OWS Graeber takes a distinctly positive tone, advocating both for the value of OWS and its methods of Direct democracy. The book was published by Spiegel & Grau.
Communitas: Means of Livelihood and Ways of Life is a 1947 book on community and city planning by Percival and Paul Goodman. Presented as an illustrated primer on how city planning affects socioeconomic order and citizens' empowerment to better their communities, the book reviews historical and modern approaches to urban planning before proposing three of the Goodmans' own provocative community paradigms.
The Community of Scholars is a 1962 book about higher education by Paul Goodman with his observations on its function and proposals for its future.
New Reformation: Notes of a Neolithic Conservative is a 1970 book of social commentary by Paul Goodman best known as his apologia pro vita sua before his death two years later.
Utopian Essays and Practical Proposals is a 1962 book of essays on social issues by Paul Goodman.
The May Pamphlet is a collection of six anarchist essays written and published by Paul Goodman in 1945. Goodman discusses the problems of living in a society that represses individual instinct through coercion. He suggests that individuals resist such conditions by reclaiming their natural instincts and initiative, and by "drawing the line", an ideological delineation beyond which an individual should refuse to conform or cooperate with social convention. While themes from The May Pamphlet—decentralization, peace, social psychology, youth liberation—would recur throughout his works, Goodman's later social criticism focused on practical applications rather than theoretical concerns.
This is a list of works by Paul Goodman (1911–1972), including his nonfiction, novels, short stories, poetry, and plays.
Speaking and Language: Defence of Poetry is a book of criticism by Paul Goodman that blames academic, structured approaches to linguistics for diminishing the role of creativity and spontaneity in speaking and human nature.
Like a Conquered Province: The Moral Ambiguity of America is a book of Paul Goodman's Massey Lectures for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation on topics of American pathologies, in particular, citizens not taking responsibility for the consequences of inequality and harmful technologies. He advocates for decentralized alternatives to existing institutions that give greater control to individuals.
Little Prayers and Finite Experience is a book of prose and poetry by Paul Goodman.
Making Do is a 1963 novel written by Paul Goodman and published by Macmillan.
Paul Goodman described himself as a man of letters but foremost a poet. He published several poetry collections in his life, including The Lordly Hudson (1962), Hawkweed (1967), North Percy (1968), and Homespun of Oatmeal Gray (1970). His Collected Poems (1973) were published posthumously.
Taylor Stoehr (1931–2013) was an American professor and author. He edited several volumes of Paul Goodman's work as his literary executor.
"The Politics of Being Queer" is a 1969 essay by Paul Goodman on the connection between his bisexuality and his personal politics. It is noteworthy for its role in reclaiming the word "queer". Originally published as "Memoirs of an Ancient Activist", Goodman revised the essay, which was retitled and published posthumously.
Prior to his career in social criticism, the American writer Paul Goodman had a prolific career in avant-garde literature, including some 18 works for the stage. His plays, mostly written in the 1940s, were typically experimental. Their professional productions were either unsuccessful or flopped, including the three productions staged with The Living Theatre in the 1950s and one with The American Place Theatre in 1966. His lack of recognition as a litterateur in the 1950s helped drive him to his successful career in social criticism in the 1960s.
The Society I Live in Is Mine is a 1963 book of Paul Goodman's social commentary ephemera. In letters to the editor, essays, speeches, reviews, and other clippings, Goodman addresses the general public on a range of civic problems, both to influence their thinking and to model the type of alert and intervening citizen he believes is necessary for societal change. His proposals span from urban renewal to school administration, with a particular focus on education and youth, and reflect his community anarchist position in wanting to spur individual initiative, oppose supreme power, and experiment with social alternatives.
