Robert Bellah’s Legacy in Time of Trial

Matteo Bortolini’s biography of Robert Bellah, A Joyfully Serious Man, is a rich and stimulating treatment of one of the greatest sociological thinkers of the twentieth century. As such, it is bound to raise questions about the interpretation of Bellah’s life, changes in his thinking over time, and the relevance of Bellah’s ideas to current concerns. Three questions are raised here. The first question concerns the role of Freudian psychoanalysis in biographical work. A second question concerns the role of individualism in American culture, which was an enduring concern for Bellah. A third and final question concerns the implications of Bellah’s ideas, nearly a decade after his death, for our current political conjuncture.