The Moral Basis of a Backward Sociologist: Edward Banfield, the Italians, and the Italian-AmericansThe Moral Basis of a Backward Society. Edward Banfield

Abstract

This essay is a review of Edward Banfield's The Moral Basis of a Backward Society (1958), a major sociological work which after a decade of general acceptance has become even more influential as a result of the renewed interest among academics in white ethnicity. In an attempt to understand the characteristics of American ethnic groups, many scholars have felt it mandatory to familiarize themselves with the life-styles of the immigrants' forebears in Europe. Observers have hoped that much of the white ethnics' adjustment to America could be understood by the continuities and discontinuities they show with their past. One of the most attractive groups for researchers has been the Italian-American, and it is in the analysis of it that the most creative investigations have been done. In the study of Italian-Americans, the single most influential work has been Banfield's. While the book was written in the 1950s, it purports to describe a social system that existed with little change at least as far back as the turn of the century, the time when most Italians immigrated to America. As a result, Moral Basis . . . has been generally accepted as a historical as well as a sociological investigation; and it has been used by others as such. Banfield's influence can be seen in many of the most successful works on the Italian-American community. It was accepted not only by Herbert Gans (1962) in the early 1960s, but by Humbert Nelli (1970) in his recent study of Chicago, and with slight modifications by Gerald Suttles (1968). While some scholars employ Banfield's argument to demonstrate continuity with the past, and others use him for contrasts between American Italians and southern Italians, there is widespread agreement on its usefulness. As a result of this reliance on Moral Basis . . . , Banfield has come to play an unusually large role in shaping our image of the ItalianAmerican experience. While Banfield's reception in American sociological and historical circles has been warm, he has fared less well among other scholars. A number of anthropologists specializing in Italian studies have been unconvinced of