BEYOND INDIVIDUALISM - PIORE,MJ

Michael Piore's Beyond Individualism begins with the premise that an e conomic, political, and social crisis is brewing in America due to the increasing fiscal demands of misunderstood minority interest groups. Piore argues that to solve this crisis, Americans must learn to transc end a narrow individualistic approach to these groups and instead aspi re to a broader conception of individualism-one which stresses mutual understanding, respect, communication, and inclusiveness. Reviewer Mar k Kelman, who describes Piore as his own ''academic hero,'' argues tha t Beyond Individualism marks a disappointing retreat from Piore's earl ier pragmatic and progressive economics. Kelman laments what he sees a s Piore's unconscious abandonment of his previous commitment to specif ic policy interventions as a practical way to diminish suffering, and he argues that Piore's embrace of a more abstractly theoretical approa ch to solving human problems is both misplaced and ultimately ineffect ual.