The Monochrome Society (New Forum Books)

Is America still a melting pot? Amitai Etzioni thinks so. Grappling with campus identity politics and burgeoning numbers of racial minorities, The Monochrome Society makes a case for Americans' basic sameness. Our differences are mostly skin-deep, Etzioni contends, and America's multihued skin belies its essentially monochromatic beliefs. He writes: "America is blessed with an economic and political system as well as culture and core values and much else that, while far from flawless, is embraced by most Americans of all races and ethnic groups." Society is not hopelessly fragmented; today's commonalities hold the key to tomorrow's problems.

Etzioni is one of the leading advocates of communitarianism, a school of thought that argues that moral problems are best addressed with reference to community, to shared ideals, and to tradition. Not content with the aeries of theory, Etzioni takes up a number of controversial public policy questions in The Monochrome Society, such as public shaming, Internet filters for children, and virtual communities. His conclusions are sometimes uncomfortable, but his arguments are well stocked with empirical evidence and engaging conversation with the best thinkers in academia and politics. --Eric de Place