Description
Book SynopsisThis book is written in praise of the criminal; a unique kind of criminal, who is motivated not by personal gain, but ethical altruism. Deviant heroes are those individuals who violate unjust norms and laws, facing the repercussions of social control, effecting positive social change in the process. Using a method that examines how the biographies of individual deviants intersected with history, it probes how criminals and deviants have been on the leading edge of important, positive social changes and the creation of a more just, fair, and humane society. Brian Wolf concludes with an examination of the problem of conformity and how deviant heroism in everyday life may be a remedy for injustice in micro-level social contexts.
Trade ReviewGood Trouble expands the field of deviance to recognize the power and often heroic nature of ethical altruism, disciplined nonconformity, and those who resist norms and break laws in the name of truth, justice, and equality. The book, using case studies, provides a social accounting of history that recognizes the great debt owed to our deviant heroes, those willing to break the rules, risk arrest and often their lives, in the name of progressive social change and resistance to oppression. Good Trouble is timely, relevant, and accessible to students of all ages and backgrounds. A must read for deviance scholars. -- Terressa A. Benz, Oakland University
Table of ContentsPart I: Deviance and Good Trouble Chapter 1: Deviant Heroism Chapter 2: Good Trouble in the Sociological Tradition Part II: Good Trouble against Inequality Chapter 3: Creative Maladjustment: The Words and Actions of Martin Luther King Jr. Chapter 4: Disciplined Nonconformists: The Struggle against Racism Chapter 5: Heretics: Women in Good Trouble Chapter 6: The Agitators: Labor Trouble Chapter 7: Truth-Tellers Chapter 8: Deviant Peacemakers, Lovers, and Dreamers Part III: Good Trouble and the Individual Chapter 9: Complicit Conformity Chapter 10: Good Trouble in Everyday Life
