American Dream in the Information Age

America's current transformation from an industrial to a new information-based culture presents new challenges to as well as new perspectives on old debates. This book explores the changing nature of the American dream in the context of past, current and impending developments. Effective as they have been, traditional values need to be reassessed. Trends such as the informatics revolution, globalization and changing patterns of work and free time ought to be taken into account. These changes have profound implications within political, economic and social realms. Particular attention is given to the rising incidence and significance of advanced technology, which is capable of transforming not only the workplace but equally social relationships, family life and individual development in a positive way. The authors investigate the concept of American exceptionalism and examine how the melting pot is coping with race relations and changing demographics. The domestic and global constraints on the agenda of government and the prospects for tackling social exclusion are explored. Current changes in the US are likely to be a harbinger for other societies, and the authors examine new models of civic society, of social formation and of reconfiguring social values for a fast-changing world.