Avoiding Politics: How Americans Produce Apathy in Everyday LifeCambridge University Press, 13 Ağu 1998 - 330 sayfa Nina Eliasoph's vivid portrait of American civic life reveals an intriguing culture of political avoidance. Despite the importance for democracy of open-ended political conversation among ordinary citizens, many Americans try hard to avoid appearing to care about politics. To discover how, where and why Americans create this culture of avoidance, the author accompanied suburban volunteers, activists, and recreation club members for over two years, listening to them talk - and avoid talking - about the wider world, together and in encounters with government, media, and corporate authorities. She shows how citizens create and express ideas in everyday life, contrasting their privately expressed convictions with their lack of public political engagement. Her book challenges received ideas about culture, power and democracy, while exposing the hard work of producing apathy. |
İçindekiler
The mysterious shrinking circle of concern | 1 |
Volunteers trying to make sense of the world | 23 |
The institutional setting for volunteering the Caring Adult Network | 47 |
Close to home and for the children trying really hard not to care | 64 |
Humor nostalgia and commercial culture in the postmodern public sphere | 85 |
Rituals of consumption | 111 |
Creating ignorance and memorizing facts how Buffaloes understood politics | 131 |
Strenuous disengagement and cynical chic solidarity | 154 |
Personal passion and dry facts in the public sphere two sides of the same coin | 188 |
Newspapers in the cycle of political evaporation | 210 |
The evaporation of politics in the US public sphere | 230 |
Class in the public sphere | 264 |
Method | 269 |
Notes | 280 |
| 304 | |
| 320 | |
Diğer baskılar - Tümünü görüntüle
Sık kullanılan terimler ve kelime öbekleri
active activists Amargo Americans asked assumed avoid beliefs Betsy Buffaloes called citizens close clubs concern considered contexts conversation corporate country-western create culture dance debate described discussion effort example fact feel gonna hard heard human ideas ignorance imagine important individual institutions interests interview involved issues jokes kind knowledge lack less live look matter mean meetings minded never nuclear offered officials opinions organizations parents participation political practice present Press problems protesters public sphere publicly question reason reporters rituals self-interest sense shared silence simply social society someone sound speak speech story talk tell thing thought told toxic tried trying University usually volunteers wanted waste wider world workers worried