Cultural Change and Survival in Amish Society Essay -- Amish Culture S

Cultural Change and survival in Amish SocietyI. displayWatching the Amish riding their horse drawn carriages through Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, you catch a glimpse of how life would defecate been 150 geezerhood ago. The Amish, without their electricity, cars, and television appear to be a static subtlety, never changing. This, however, is just an illusion. In fact, the Amish are a dynamic tillage which is, through market forces and a nonher(prenominal) means, continually interacting with the enormously bid culture of America. So, one might be led to wonder how a culture like the Amish, one that seems so anachronistic, has non only survived but has crowing and flourished while surrounded by a culture that would seem to be so detrimental to its basic ideals. The Amish, through biologic reproduction, resistance to outside culture, compromise, and a strong ethnic symbolism have managed to stave off a culture that waits to engulf them. Why fill the Amish? cardinal answer would be, of course, to learn virtually their seemingly pure cooperative society and value system (called Ordung). From this, one may hope to learn how to better Americas occupation of individualism and lack of good or ethical beliefs. However, there is another reason to study the Amish. Beca practise the Amish have remained such a large and distinct culture from our own, they provide an opportunity to study the effects of cultural transmission, resistance, and change, as well as the results of strong symbolism in maintaining ethnic and cultural isolation.II. History of the AmishThe Amish have their roots in the Protestant Reformation of 16th century Europe, led by Martin Luther. Of these Protestant groups one sect was the Anabaptists. The first Anabaptist group was kno... ...the Amish except for their use of language and plain dress, would not have been distinct from most other 19th century farmers. This in essence allowed for the early survival and establishment of Amish cultur e in the United States.ReferencesGelles, Richard J. and Levine, Ann. 1995. Sociology, An design . Fifth Edition. New York, New York McGraw-Hill. strong, Merele and Phyllis. 1979. 20 Most Asked Questions about theAmish and Mennonites. Lancaster, Pennsylvania Good Books.Hostetler, John A. 1983. Amish Life . Scottdale, Pennsylvania auspicate Press.Kraybill, Donald B. 1990. The Puzzles of Amish Life . Intercourse, Pennsylvania Good Books.Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia. 1997. Amish . 1993-1996 Microsoft Corporation.Pennsylvania Dutch Country Welcome Center. 1997. Amish FAQ.http//www.800padutch.com/atfaq.html Cultural Change and Survival in Amish Society Essay -- Amish Culture SCultural Change and Survival in Amish SocietyI. IntroductionWatching the Amish riding their horse drawn carriages through Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, you catch a glimpse of how life would have been 150 years ago. The Amish, without their electricity, cars, and television appear to be a static culture, never changing. This, however, is just an illusion. In fact, the Amish are a dynamic culture which is, through market forces and other means, continually interacting with the enormously tempting culture of America. So, one might be led to wonder how a culture like the Amish, one that seems so anachronistic, has not only survived but has grown and flourished while surrounded by a culture that would seem to be so detrimental to its basic ideals. The Amish, through biological reproduction, resistance to outside culture, compromise, and a strong ethnic symbolism have managed to stave off a culture that waits to engulf them. Why study the Amish? One answer would be, of course, to learn about their seemingly pure cooperative society and value system (called Ordung). From this, one may hope to learn how to better Americas problem of individualism and lack of moral or ethical beliefs. However, there is another reason to study the Amish. Because the Amish have remained such a large and distinct culture from our own, they provide an opportunity to study the effects of cultural transmission, resistance, and change, as well as the results of strong symbolism in maintaining ethnic and cultural isolation.II. History of the AmishThe Amish have their roots in the Protestant Reformation of 16th century Europe, led by Martin Luther. Of these Protestant groups one sect was the Anabaptists. The first Anabaptist group was kno... ...the Amish except for their use of language and plain dress, would not have been distinct from most other 19th century farmers. This in essence allowed for the early survival and establishment of Amish culture in the United States.ReferencesGelles, Richard J. and Levine, Ann. 1995. Sociology, AnIntroduction . Fifth Edition. New York, New York McGraw-Hill.Good, Merele and Phyllis. 1979. 20 Most Asked Questions about theAmish and Mennonites. Lancaster, Pennsylvania Good Books.Hostetler, John A. 1983. Amish Life . Scottdale, PennsylvaniaHerald Pre ss.Kraybill, Donald B. 1990. The Puzzles of Amish Life . Intercourse, Pennsylvania Good Books.Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia. 1997. Amish . 1993-1996 Microsoft Corporation.Pennsylvania Dutch Country Welcome Center. 1997. Amish FAQ.http//www.800padutch.com/atfaq.html