American nightmares : social problems in an anxious world / Joel Best.

By: Best, Joel [author.]Material type: TextTextPublisher: Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2018]Copyright date: 2018Description: 1 online resource (253 pages) : illustrationsContent type: text Media type: computer Carrier type: online resourceISBN: 9780520968905 (e-book)Subject(s): Anxiety -- Social aspects -- United States | United States -- Social conditionsGenre/Form: Electronic books.Additional physical formats: Print version:: American nightmares : social problems in an anxious world.DDC classification: 306.0973 LOC classification: HM1027.U6 | B47 2018Online resources: Click to View
Contents:
Popular hazards or, how we insist similar social problems are different -- American nightmares or, why sociologists hate the American dream / written with David Schweingruber -- Evaluating predictions or, how to compare the Maya calendar, Social Security, and climate change -- Future talk or, how slippery slopes shape concern -- Memories as problems or, how to reconsider Confederate flags and other symbols of the past /written with Lawrence T. Nichols -- Economicization or, why economists get more respect than sociologists -- Afterword : the future of American nightmares.
Summary: "In an accessible and droll style, best-selling author Joel Best shines a light on how we navigate these anxious, insecure social times. While most of us still strive for the American Dream--to graduate from college, own a home, work toward early retirement--recent generations have been told that the next generation will not be able to achieve these goals, that things are getting--or are on the verge of getting--worse. In American Nightmares, Best addresses the apprehension that we face every day as we are bombarded with threats that the social institutions we count on are imperiled. Our schools are failing to teach our kids. Healthcare may soon be harder to obtain. We can't bank on our retirement plans. And our homes--still the largest chunk of most people's net worth--may lose much of their value. Our very way of life is being threatened! Or is it? With a steady voice and keen focus, Best examines how a culture develops fears and fantasies and how these visions are created and recreated in every generation. By dismantling current ideas about the future, collective memory, and sociology's marginalization in the public square, Best sheds light on how social problems--and our anxiety about them--are socially constructed"--Provided by publisher.
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Includes bibliographical references and index.

Popular hazards or, how we insist similar social problems are different -- American nightmares or, why sociologists hate the American dream / written with David Schweingruber -- Evaluating predictions or, how to compare the Maya calendar, Social Security, and climate change -- Future talk or, how slippery slopes shape concern -- Memories as problems or, how to reconsider Confederate flags and other symbols of the past /written with Lawrence T. Nichols -- Economicization or, why economists get more respect than sociologists -- Afterword : the future of American nightmares.

"In an accessible and droll style, best-selling author Joel Best shines a light on how we navigate these anxious, insecure social times. While most of us still strive for the American Dream--to graduate from college, own a home, work toward early retirement--recent generations have been told that the next generation will not be able to achieve these goals, that things are getting--or are on the verge of getting--worse. In American Nightmares, Best addresses the apprehension that we face every day as we are bombarded with threats that the social institutions we count on are imperiled. Our schools are failing to teach our kids. Healthcare may soon be harder to obtain. We can't bank on our retirement plans. And our homes--still the largest chunk of most people's net worth--may lose much of their value. Our very way of life is being threatened! Or is it? With a steady voice and keen focus, Best examines how a culture develops fears and fantasies and how these visions are created and recreated in every generation. By dismantling current ideas about the future, collective memory, and sociology's marginalization in the public square, Best sheds light on how social problems--and our anxiety about them--are socially constructed"--Provided by publisher.

Description based on print version record.

Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest, 2016. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest affiliated libraries.

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