View source for The Fourth Great Awakening and the Future of Egalitarianism

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:  ''See: [[Fourth Great Awakening]]''
In his book, '''''The Fourth Great Awakening and the Future of Egalitarianism''''', published in 2000,<ref name=fogel2000>Fogel RW. (2000) ''The Fourth Great Awakening and the Future of Egalitarianism'' University of Chicago Press, Chicago.  ISBN 978-0-226-25662-7 | [http://books.google.com/books?id=uFogX-kBGEIC&dq=Robert+Fogel&source=gbs_navlinks_s Google Book preview] | Last accessed 08-June-2011.</ref>&nbsp;<ref name=millikenrev>[http://bit.ly/qyujnU Excerpt (23 pages) from: ''The Fourth Great Awakening'' by Robert Fogel]. Milliken Institute Review (2000), Third Quarter 2000. pp. 57-80.</ref>&nbsp;historian and economist [[Robert William Fogel]], who received the [[Nobel Prize in Economics]] in 1993, surveys what he discerns as cyclical interactions, throughout the course of American history, among "fervent" or "enthusiastic" [[religion]]; [[politics]]; legislative policies; advances in [[technology]]; and public interest.  In the process, he presents a synthesis of American history in the domains of technological advances, consequences of those advances on social, economic, religious and political life, and on the course of egalitarianism<ref>Marshall G. (1998) [http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O88-egalitarianism.html egalitarianism] A Dictionary of Sociology.  Oxford University Press.
:*'' A doctrine which sees equality of condition, outcome, reward, and privilege as a desirable goal of social organization. The bases for such beliefs have been religious and secular…''</ref>
<ref> Merriam-Webster Dictionary Online. (2007) [http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/egalitarianism egalitarianism]
:*1 : a belief in human equality especially with respect to social, political, and economic rights and privileges; 2 : a social philosophy advocating the removal of inequalities among people</ref>
<ref>Arneson R. (2002) [http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2002/entries/egalitarianism/ Egalitarianism] ''The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2002 Edition)'', Edward N. Zalta (ed.)</ref> in America. 

Fogel argues that at least three periods of surges in religious fervor and organization (he refers to them as ’awakenings’) have occurred in American history, each greatly influencing the political process and leading to major changes in legislation and governmental policies satisfying the religious fervor for particular egalitarian goals.  He describes each as subsequently leading to backlash reactions that resulted in new political and legislative changes. He argues that a fourth great awakening began in the 1960s and 1970s and continues into the present (early 21st century), emphasizing a need to complete the goals of the [[Third Great Awakening]] and equitably distribute "spiritual" or "immaterial" ("non-material") resources only tangentially related to religion.

Of Fogel’s book, senior contributing editor of ''The Christian Century'', James Wall, wrote:<ref name=wall01>Wall JM (2001) [http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-71949702.html The Fourth Great Awakening and the Future of Egalitarianism.(Review)] The Christian Century. 03/14/2001.</ref>

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<p style="margin-left:2.0%; margin-right:6%;font-size:0.95em;"><font face="Gill Sans MT, Trebuchet MS">Drawing on William G. McLoughlin's original work, ''Revivals, Awakenings and Reform: An Essay on Religion and Social Change in America, 1607-1977'' (1978)<ref>McLoughlin WG. (1978) [http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/hfs.cgi/00/1621.ctl Revivals, Awakenings, and Reform] Chicago History of American Religion. University of Chicago Press.  ISBN 978-0-226-56092-2. | [http://books.google.com/books?id=C9uLMCJQzFEC&dq=revivals,+awakenings&source=gbs_navlinks_s Google Books preview/extract].</ref> &mdash;part of a series on American religious history edited by Martin E. Marty&mdash;Fogel examines each of four religions awakenings: the better-known [[First Great Awakening|first]] (in the 1730s and 1740s) and [[Second Great Awakening|second]] (from the 1790s to the 1830s), a lesser-known [[Third Great Awakening|third]] (beginning in the 1890s) and a [[Fourth Great Awakening|fourth]] (which McLoughlin dates from the early 1960s and which he projected as ending in 1990). Fogel identifies egalitarianism as the common theme and goal of all the awakenings. The first three led to material equality, first of condition and then of opportunity. The fourth marked a shift in focus to equality in matters of the mind and spirit.</font></p>
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A non-editorial review, this article summarizes the content of Fogel's book and reports on some of the published responses the ideas in the book elicited.