Amish Society - Hardcover

John A. Hostetler

3.98

248 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0801802822 ISBN 13: 9780801802829

Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1968

View all copies of this ISBN edition:

Known by their peculiar garb and stubborn refusal to keep pace with the technological society surrounding them, the Old Order Amish form one of the most conspicuous folk groups in America. Prizing country ways and old customs, they drive buggies in preference to automobiles, avoid higher education, hold four-hour preaching services in their homes, and refuse to accept government subsidies. An absorbing account of a people who have said "no" to progress, AMISH SOCIETY has now been extensively revised and augmented with a new chapter on Amish schools and education.

There have been other books about the Amish, but as Charles Loomis says in his Introduction: "For me this book tells THE Amish story." It remains the most inclusive treatment of the American Amish in the perspective of sociology and social anthropology. Born into an Amish family and reared as an Amishman until, as a youth, he left the group to obtain an education, John Hostetler writes about the Amish with unique authority and understanding. He brings to his subject not only the investigator's professional detachment, but also the deeper awareness engendered by his having been a member of the Amish community.

The first part of the book examines the structures and strengths of Amish social institutions. It deals with the origins of the group as a sectarian movement, the Amish charter as a symbol of community self-fulfillment, and family life and personal relations from infancy to childhood. Professor Hostetler then turns to a study of the internal conflicts produced by social change and innovations such as the tractor, the telephone, and the automobile. In addition there are discussions of defection, Meidung (excommunication), health and medical behavior, and mental illness.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

From the Back Cover:

This classic work by John Hostetler has been expanded and updated to reflect the current research on Amish history and culture as well as the new concerns of Amish communities throughout North America. In this fourth edition of Amish Society Hostetler takes the reader inside Amish culture and explains the nature of Amish religious beliefs and ceremonies, community and family life, tensions with worldly values, and interactions with outsiders. He offers updated information on a variety of topics, including Amish population trends, land use and farming practices, and relations with the state.

About the Author:

John A. Hostetler (1918–2001) is author of the best-selling Amish Society and the widely acclaimed Hutterite Society, both available from Johns Hopkins. Raised in the Amish faith, he was founding director of the Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, and a former professor of anthropology and sociology at Temple University.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.