Overview

In this lively and provocative book, two feminist public sociologists turn to classical social thinkers--W. E. B. Du Bois, Max Weber, Karl Marx, and Emile Durkheim--to understand a series of twenty-first century social traumas, including the massacre at Columbine High School, the 9/11 attacks, the torture at Abu Ghraib prison, and Hurricane Katrina. Each event was overwhelming in its own right, while the relentless pace at which they occurred made it nearly impossible to absorb and interpret them in any but the most superficial ways. Yet, each uncovered social problems that cry out for our understanding and remediation. In When the Center Is on Fire, Becky Thompson and Diane Harriford assert that classical social theorists grappled with the human condition in ways that remain profoundly relevant. They show, for example, that the loss of ""double consciousness"" that Du Bois identified in African Americans enabled political elites to turn a blind eye to the poverty and vulnerability of many of New Orleans's citizens. The authors' compelling, sometimes irreverent, often searing interpretations make this book essential reading.

Full Product Details

Author:   Diane Harriford ,  Becky Thompson
Publisher:   University of Texas Press
Imprint:   University of Texas Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 2.20cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.454kg
ISBN:  

9780292717763

ISBN 10:   0292717768
Pages:   272
Publication Date:   01 June 2008
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Acknowledgments Introduction: An Offering ... Can We Talk? Part One. Consciousness: Lessons from Hurricane Katrina Chapter One. Condoleezza Rice, W. E. B. Du Bois, and Double Consciousness Chapter Two. Hurricane Katrina and Historical Memory Part Two. Spirit: The 9/11 Attacks Chapter Three. The 9/11 Attacks and Max Weber Chapter Four. Moments of Grace/Grace Undermined Part Three. Labor: The Abu Ghraib Prison Abuses Chapter Five. Karl Marx and Alienation Chapter Six. Looking for Species Being: Trauma and Its Consequences Part Four. Body: The Columbine School Shootings Chapter Seven. Émile Durkheim and Embodiment in the Age of the Internet Conclusion: Regeneration Notes Bibliography Index

Reviews

When the Center Is on Fire is a much-needed contribution to sociological understandings of contemporary U.S. society as shaped by global capital and imperialism. The authors reanimate social theory and put it to the test in imaginative and innovative ways... Their readings of classical social theory help us recover a humane, life-giving, and connective social ethic that can fruitfully counteract the dehumanization, atomization, and emptiness uncovered by events that have shaken the United States in the new millennium. Monisha Das Gupta, University of Hawai'i, author of Unruly Immigrants: Rights, Activism and Transnational South Asian Politics in the United States

Author Information

Diane Harriford is Associate Professor of Sociology and Director of Women's Studies at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. Becky Thompson is Professor of Sociology at Simmons College in Boston, Massachusetts.

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