The Culture of Conformism: Understanding Social Consent - Hardcover

Hogan, Patrick Colm

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13 ratings by Goodreads

9780822327059: The Culture of Conformism: Understanding Social Consent

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0822327058 ISBN 13: 9780822327059

Publisher: Duke University Press Books, 2001

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“[Hogan’s] goal is not merely to explain but to provide tools of understanding that will be of practical value to those who struggle for justice and freedom. Drawing from an impressive array of sources, his valuable study advances both ends considerably, no mean accomplishment.”—Noam Chomsky

In this wide-ranging and informative work, Patrick Colm Hogan draws on cognitive science, psychoanalysis, and social psychology to explore the cultural and psychological components of social consent. Focusing in particular on Americans’ acquiescence to a system that underpays and underrepresents the vast majority of the population, Hogan moves beyond typical studies of this phenomenon by stressing more than its political and economic dimensions.
With new insights into particularly insideous forms of consent such as those manifest in racism, sexism, and homophobia, The Culture of Conformism considers the role of emotion as it works in conjunction with belief and with the formation of group identity. Arguing that coercion is far more pervasive in democratic societies than is commonly recognized, Hogan discusses the subtle ways in which economic and social pressures operate to complement the more obviously violent forces of the police and military. Addressing issues of narcissism, self-esteem, and empathy, he also explains the concept of “rational” conformity—that is, the degree to which our social consent is based on self-interest—and explores the cognitive factors that produce and sustain social ideology.
Social activists, economic theorists, social psychologists, and political scientists will be intrigued and informed by this book.

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From the Publisher:

“Reflecting on the principles of government, David Hume was struck by the ‘implicit submission’ of people to the rulers in all societies even though ‘force is always on the side of the governed,’ a surprising outcome that he attributes to control of opinion. Patrick Hogan greatly enriches the Humean concept, unravelling an intricate web of ‘modes of action and thought’ that ensnare the governed in forms of ‘implicit submission,’ contrary to their deeper motives and ideals and long-term interests. His goal is not merely to explain, but to provide tools of understanding that will be of practical value to those who struggle for justice and freedom. Drawing from an impressive array of sources, his valuable study advances both ends considerably, no mean accomplishment.”—Noam Chomsky

“Given that capitalist society demeans and deprives most of its members, why don’t they revolt? Hogan lays out this problematic with elegant directness and lucidity and provides a complex—yet simply drawn—explanation of consent.”— Richard Ohmann, Wesleyan University

From the Back Cover:

"Given that capitalist society demeans and deprives most of its members, why don't they revolt? Hogan lays out this problematic with elegant directness and lucidity and provides a complex--yet simply drawn--explanation of consent."-- Richard Ohmann, Wesleyan University

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