
Control and Consolation in American Culture and Politics
Rhetoric of Therapy
Dana L. Cloud(Author)
SAGE Publications Inc (Publisher)
1st Edition
Published on 8. January 1998
Book
Paperback/Softback
216 pages
978-0-7619-0507-3 (ISBN)
Description
What are the consequences in American society when social and political activism is replaced by pursuit of personal, psychological change? How does such a shift happen? Where is it visible? In wide-ranging case studies, Control and Consolation in American Culture and Politics points out this change in American culture and attributes it to the "rhetoric of therapy." This rhetoric is defined as a pervasive cultural discourse that applies psychotherapyAEs lexiconuthe constructive language of healing, coping, adaptation, and restoration of a previously existing orderuto social and political conflict. The purpose of this therapeutic discourse is to encourage people to focus on themselves and their private lives rather than to attempt to reform flawed systems of social and political power. Author Dana L. Cloud focuses on the therapeutic discourse that emerged after the Vietnam War and links its rise to specific political and economic interests. The critical case studies describe in detail not only what the therapeutic style looks like, but how and why therapeutic discourses are persuasive. These studies include: the rhetoric of "family values"; media coverage of "support groups" during the Persian Gulf War; Gloria SteinenAEs Revolution from Within; the film Thelma and Louise; and literature of the New Age Movement. Cloud concludes with a chapter urging resistance to the therapeutic persuasion she describes envisioning in its place engaged public politics. At once unique and engaging, Control and Consolation in American Culture and Politics is a must read for academics and students interested in communication studies, cultural studies, sociology, political science, and media studies.
More details
Series
Edition
First Edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Thousand Oaks
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 12 mm
Weight
323 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7619-0507-3 (9780761905073)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
01/1998
1st Edition
SAGE Publications Inc
€130.94
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Content
Introduction
On Therapy and the Therapeutic
Perspectives on the Therapeutic
The Therapeutic History
Inventing and Disciplining the Modern Self
Family Therapies
From the White House to the Hood
The Support Group Nation
The Therapeutics of Feminism
From Self-Esteem to Suicide
The New Age of Post-Marxism
Conclusion
Antidotes to the Therpeutic Hegemony
On Therapy and the Therapeutic
Perspectives on the Therapeutic
The Therapeutic History
Inventing and Disciplining the Modern Self
Family Therapies
From the White House to the Hood
The Support Group Nation
The Therapeutics of Feminism
From Self-Esteem to Suicide
The New Age of Post-Marxism
Conclusion
Antidotes to the Therpeutic Hegemony