Description
Book SynopsisIn his eye-opening book Why?, world-renowned social scientist Charles Tilly exposed some startling truths about the excuses people make and the reasons they give. Now he's back with further explorations into the complexities of human relationships, this time examining what's really going on when we assign credit or cast blame. Everybody does it, bu
Trade Review"Throughout his 50-book career, Tilly liked to squint hard at social life and find simple patterns. [In Credit and Blame] his undogmatic schematizing could reshape our judgments about what might have been obvious to begin with."--Alexander Star, New York Times Book Review "Drawing upon sources as disparate as Dostoyevski, Darwin, water-cooler conversations and truth commissions, Tilly illustrated how assigning credit and blame stems from and redefines 'relations between the creditor and the credited, the blamer, and the blamed.' Tilly astutely analyzes how people accept credit and society assesses blame, and the commonalities between the two. With its most vivid examples drawn from the author's own life, this book is simultaneously highbrow and humble and a close analysis of social interaction."--Publishers Weekly
Table of ContentsPreface vii Chapter 1: Credit, Blame, and Social Life 1 Chapter 2: Justice 31 Chapter 3: Credit 61 Chapter 4: Blame 91 Chapter 5: Memories of Victory, Loss, and Blame 120 Notes 153 References 161 Index 173
