Rugged Individualism

About this episode

This episode explores the concept of Rugged Individualism and its connections to Marxist theory through a student-led discussion.

In this special student edition of High Theory, Andrew Bennett, Jo Hoffman, Kai North, and Ally Sullivan tell us about Rugged Individualism, a concept they link to Marxist theory. They made this episode for an assignment in Professor John Linstrom’s course on Theory and Criticism at Centenary College of Louisiana. The students provided the show notes below. The baby theorist pictured in the fetching onesie is John's newest daughter, and not a member of the theory class that produced this episode. The transcript of the episode lives here as a WordDoc and here as a PDF. Show Notes 1. First minute or so is spent in the introduction of each speaker, being Centenary senior Andrew Bennett and Centenary junior Jordan Hoffman, Andrew starts off with name dropping the podcast name, being High-Theory student version. 2. The discussion is first spent in going over the origins of rough individualism and what encourages it, which is mostly due to monetary stability. 3. Rugged individualism was seen most utilized during American expansionism during the mid to late nineteenth century, as citizens who moved to the frontier had little to no government to assist them and their families. The…

People in this episode

Guests: Andrew Bennett, Jo Hoffman, Kai North, Ally Sullivan

Topics covered

• Rugged Individualism
• Marxist Theory
• American Expansionism
• Economic History
• Socioeconomic Status

Keywords

• Rugged Individualism
• Marxist Theory
• American Expansionism
• Economic Boom
• Herbert Hoover

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Centenary College of Louisiana