essay

Modernity, the folk society, and the Old Order Amish

Amish struggle with modernityHanover, NhPublished In 1994 • Pages: 184-196, 273

By: Olshan, Marc Alan.

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
For many years the Amish have been portrayed as a small folk society that follows traditional patterns of social life without making deliberate choices about their future. In this paper, Marc A. Olshan overturns such assumptions and argues that the Amish exhibit modern ways to the extent that they self-consciously make choices and attempt to control their own destiny. Noting a variety of strategic decisions, Olshan contends that the Amish can serve as a model for other groups who want to selectively adapt to the forces of modernity (p. 185).
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Theoretical orientation in research and its results
Acculturation and culture contact
Sociocultural trends
Agricultural machinery
Vehicles
Education system
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Amish
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2009
RegionThe area the document pertains to
North America
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Regional, Ethnic and Diaspora Cultures
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
essay
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Sociologist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
5: Excellent Primary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
John Beierle; 2007
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
no date
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
not specified
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
United States
NotesAdditional notes
Marc A. Olshan
For bibliographical references see document 20: [Kraybill and Olshan]
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
94013668
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Amish