Neither Marx nor Durkheim . . . Perhaps Weber

What accounts for the oft-remarked dynamism of American society and its attendart flexibility of social structures, including accommodation of protest movements? I approach this question by considering the applicability of the perspectives on modern society of Marx, Durkheim, and Weber to the United States. Arguing that it is perhaps Weber who is of greatest heuristic worth in interpreting American society because of his sensitivity to the Protestant ethos, I illustrate this line of analysis by drawing attention to two major Puritan cultural themes: "wilderness" and "voluntarism."