An American Dilemma

This chapter provides an account of Gunnar Myrdal’s most famous work, An American Dilemma, published in 1944. This book analyzed the race problem in the United States. In this book, Myrdal turned his early use of cumulative causation into a coherent, concerted endeavor to prove that black poverty was not a purely economic phenomenon. It was caused by the interaction of white prejudice and discrimination and black economic, social and moral standards. When he wrote his book, he had become firmly convinced that all aspects of society mattered. There were no purely economic, social or political problems, only problems which involved all aspects of society, variables which interacted and which were intimately related to the existing institutions which performed economic and social functions and determined the actions of the individual actors. The book rested on the use of explicit value premises, the ‘American Creed’: democracy, equality, freedom, fair opportunity and the rule of law, principles shared by all Americans, but principles that were violated in the treatment of blacks by whites. Myrdal’s remedy amounted to social engineering and planning of society. The chapter also tells the story of the practical impact of An American Dilemma on American legislation and of the follow-up made by Myrdal in Challenge to Affluence in 1962.