during crises, great peril provokes a societal consensus, an ethic of personal sacrifice, and strong institutional order. during awakenings, an ethic of individualism emerges, and the institutional order is attacked by new social ideals and spiritual agendas. according to the authors, about every 85 yearsthe length of a long human lifea national crisis occurs in american society. roughly halfway to the next crisis, a cultural awakening occurs (historically, these have often been called great awakenings). in describing this cycle of crises and awakenings, they draw from the work of other historians and social scientists who have also discussed long cycles in american and european history, which have grown to show a trend of economic downturns the more a society has industrialised. the cycle of crises corresponds with long cycles of war identified by such scholars as arnold j. toynbee, quincy wright, and l. l. ferrar jr., and with geopolitical cycles identified by william r. thompson and george modelski. strauss and howe say their cycle of awakenings corresponds with anthony wallace's work on revitalization movements; they also say recurring crises and awakenings correspond with two-stroke cycles in politics (walter dean burnham, arthur schlesinger sr. and jr.), foreign affairs (frank l. klingberg), and the economy (nikolai kondratieff) as well as with long-term oscillations in crime and substance abuse.
United States