Charles A. Reich

Charles A. Reich. An American legal scholar, author, and social critic, he became a prominent public intellectual in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He is best known for his bestselling 1970 book, The Greening of America, which offered a radical critique of American society and predicted a cultural revolution. A professor at Yale Law School, his work examined the intersection of individual rights, corporate power, and consciousness.

Early life and education

Born in New York City, he attended the prestigious Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts before enrolling at Oberlin College. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1949 and then pursued legal studies at Yale Law School, earning his Bachelor of Laws in 1952. During his time at Yale University, he served as an editor for the Yale Law Journal, demonstrating early scholarly promise. His education coincided with the early Cold War period, shaping his later critiques of institutional conformity.

Legal career and government service

After graduating, he served as a law clerk for Hugo Black, an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, from 1953 to 1954. This experience at the Supreme Court of the United States exposed him to pivotal constitutional law debates. He then entered private practice with the firm Arnold & Porter in Washington, D.C.. In 1960, he joined the United States Department of Justice as an assistant to Solicitor General Archibald Cox. He returned to Yale Law School as a professor in 1960, where he wrote influential law review articles on areas like individual rights and government benefits.

The Greening of America and public intellectual work

His 1970 book, The Greening of America, first published as an essay in The New Yorker, became a national bestseller and a defining text of the era. The book argued that Corporate America and the military-industrial complex had created a dehumanizing "Consciousness II." It prophesied the rise of a new "Consciousness III" emanating from the counterculture of the 1960s, particularly the hippie movement and the New Left. The work was widely discussed in media like The New York Times and debated by intellectuals including Lewis Mumford and Peter Berger. While celebrated by many, it also faced significant criticism from figures like Christopher Lasch for being overly utopian.

Later life and death

Following the waning influence of The Greening of America, he continued to write and teach but receded from the national spotlight. He published later works, including The Sorcerer of Bolinas Reef and Opposing the System. He lived for many years in San Francisco, a city emblematic of the cultural shifts he chronicled. In his later decades, he was involved in local activism and remained a critic of entrenched power structures. He died in San Francisco in June 2019 at the age of 90.

Legacy and influence

His most enduring legacy remains The Greening of America, a seminal document that captured the spirit and aspirations of the counterculture of the 1960s. The book influenced a generation of activists and thinkers concerned with environmentalism, personal freedom, and resistance to corporate power. While its specific predictions were not fully realized, its critique of institutional overreach and advocacy for a change in consciousness left a mark on subsequent social movements. His earlier legal scholarship is also recognized for its innovative analysis of property rights and the administrative state.

Category:American legal scholars Category:Yale Law School faculty Category:American non-fiction writers Category:1928 births Category:2019 deaths