Transformation of the Mormon Culture Region by Ethan R. Yorgason

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In this unique study, Ethan R. Yorgason examines the Mormon "culture region" of the American West, which in the late nineteenth century was characterized by sexual immorality, communalism, and anti-Americanism but is now marked by social conservatism. Foregrounding the concept of region, Yorgason traces the conformist-conservative trajectory that arose from intense moral and ideological clashes between Mormons and non-Mormons from 1880 to 1920. Looking through the lenses of regional show more geography, history, and cultural studies, Yorgason investigates shifting moral orders relating to gender authority, economic responsibility, and national loyalty, community, and home life. Transformation of the Mormon Culture Region charts how Mormons and non-Mormons resolved their cultural contradictions over time by a progressive narrowing of the range of moral positions on gender (in favor of Victorian gender relations), the economy (in favor of individual economics), and the nation (identifying with national power and might). Mormons and non-Mormons together constructed a regime of effective coexistence while retaining regional distinctiveness. show less

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wickenden 164 reviews

This book covers notions of LDS thought on a variety of topics often misunderstood at face value, in the light of their evolution over time. Mormon feminism in the 19th Century? Yorgason presents a case for it here that is convincing, despite polygamy. Similarly with communitarian notions, mormons had a cooperative communistic venture that lasted 40 years and attracted the attention of Engles.

Anyway, this is a GREAT book on the anthropology of mormonism.

Note: This book was "borrowed" by someone at my school who then turned around and claimed that the copy she had was her own, not mine. That's what I get for not putting my seal in my books!

Mar 8, 2021

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