“Americanization” and the Cultural Prospect

The social philosopher Horace M. Kallen was born in Silesia, the son of a rabbi, but came with his parents to the United States in 1887. He was educated at Harvard and taught there, at Clark University, and at the University of Wisconsin. In 1919, he helped to found the New School for Social Research in New York City, where he taught for the rest of his life. His best-known contribution to American thought was his theory of cultural pluralism. Rejecting Israel Zangwill’s vision of the United States as a melting pot, he compared American society to a symphony orchestra, to which each immigrant group contributed its own distinctive sound. He opposed efforts to force the homogenization of American society and urged immigrants to cultivate and take pride in their national origins. Not surprisingly, he was a supporter of Zionism.