Conclusion

Abstract

Individualism adapts itself to local worlds. In this book I have tried to dehomogenize the monolithic individualism anthropologists and other social theorists generically refer to (and compare other cultures to) by describing the varying styles individualism takes in three communities in Manhattan and Queens. The spectrum of what we refer to under the umbrella of individualism is extremely broad, ranging from self-reliance to assertiveness to personal self-expression to hardihood, stamina, intellectual independence, a unique core of feeling, or a preference for being alone. (And even this list is not exhaustive.) And yet, not all communities practice, use, or socialize these various strands of individualism.