The Revolt of the Primitive explores the psychological dynamics of political correctness and gender warfare. Author Howard Schwartz argues that perceptions of men as abusers, sexual predators, and deadbeat dads have become firmly entrenched in our culture due to fantasy rather than solid, objective facts. This volume delves into the psychological forces that have given rise to these ideas and reveals the hard facts about men and women in our society.
Schwartz illustrates how feminists have taken the most vulgar stereotype of men and pronounced it a universal and inviolable cultural norm. He then examines his thesis in the context of work and the work organization, discussing how the feminization of the workplace has been driven by the archetypal need to remake it into a maternal world, banishing the limitations that shape survival and progress. He examines the traditional sexual division of labor and its alleged oppressive nature. He also discusses the psychological forces that drive the idea of placing women in combat roles in the military.
"The Revolt of the Primitive is one of the most original, profound, and disturbing analyses of cultural politics in our time. It raises the discourse of gender politics and gender wars to an altogether higher level, revealing some of the primitive emotional forces that loom behind the vilification of the father and its dire consequences for our cultural and political institutions."--Yiannis Gabriel, professor of organizational behavior, Imperial College, London
"I heartily commend and recommend Schwartz's book. [It] is a monument in thought that towers conspicuously above the figurative rubble of our age."--Lou Marinoff, professor of philosophy, City College of New York
"The Revolt of the Primitive is a fascinating account of an intellectual's attempt to understand his own history and the strange cultural forms which give shape to it, past and present. In documenting these bizarre forms and attempting to specify their inner meaning, Schwartz teaches us a lot about what motivates some of the key political struggles of our time."--Human Relations
Howard S. Schwartz is a professor of organizational behavior in the School of Business Administration at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, and is one of the founders of the International Society for Psychoanalytic Study of Organizations (ISPSO).
