Revisiting the American Dilemma and the Final Years

In the 1970s, Gunnar Myrdal again tried to revisit the themes of An American Dilemma. Despite legislative advances since his original publication, racial inequalities in education, labor markets, and housing remained significant. Myrdal criticized both the conservative retreat from equal rights policies and the left’s focus on identity politics, which he felt neglected the broader issues of poverty and power. Recent criticism of An American Dilemma has been deepened by Maribel Morey. She has pointed out that in Myrdal’s book, one value premise involves assimilation into American culture and traits appreciated by the white group. How did this questionable value premise enter the book? Myrdal’s later years were marked by continued engagement in public discourse, including criticism of the new Swedish constitution. In 1982, Jan Myrdal published Childhood, with an unflinching portrayal of Alva and Gunnar, which darkened their final years. Janken Myrdal analyzed his father’s book and found that he obscured much of the help Jan had received from his parents. Gunnar Myrdal passed away in 1987, leaving a legacy of profound contributions to social science and public policy.