Introduction to the Transaction Edition

Abstract

Daniel Bell, writing in 1960, suggested that with the exception of Marxism, the theory of mass society was "probably the most influential theory in the western world today." To understand the evolution of mass culture and its reception in the United States, it is crucial to deal with the concept of "mass society," and to arrive at some meaningful definition. Many sociologists and historians have suggested that since the mid-nineteenth century, we in the West have been part of a developing "mass society". From the historical perspective, the intellectual significance of "mass society" theories should neither be underestimated nor ignored, because it is impossible to understand the emergence of political and social attitudes and public responses toward the mass media and mass culture without examining the evolution of these ideas. The problem of subjective judgment and concern about declining aesthetic standards has always plagued the popular arts, and with the advent of mass culture the level of attack was escalated.