Description
Book SynopsisThe Rise of Victimhood Culture offers a framework for understanding recent moral conflicts at U.S. universities, which have bled into society at large. These are not the familiar clashes between liberals and conservatives or the religious and the secular: instead, they are clashes between a new moral culture—victimhood culture—and a more traditional culture of dignity. Even as students increasingly demand trigger warnings and “safe spaces,” many young people are quick to police the words and deeds of others, who in turn claim that political correctness has run amok. Interestingly, members of both camps often consider themselves victims of the other. In tracking the rise of victimhood culture, Bradley Campbell and Jason Manning help to decode an often dizzying cultural milieu, from campus riots over conservative speakers and debates around free speech to the election of Donald Trump.
Trade ReviewSelected by Choice magazine as an Outstanding Academic Title for 2018
“Comprehensive, measured, and well researched, this may be the most important book of the year. Period. … The authors do a masterful job of explaining the nation’s shift from a culture of honor, to a culture of dignity, to one of victimhood. … Required reading for those seeking to move beyond the seeming downward spiral of becoming a nation of victims.” (J. R. Mitrano, Choice, Vol. 56 (1), September, 2018)
“Sociologists Bradley Campbell and Jason Manning have produced the first systematic theoretical analysis of the moral culture of “victimhood” emerging on university campuses. … This book is an important addition to the sociology of morality in its documentation of the contours of a newly emerging moral culture.” (Kevin Mccaffree, skeptic.com, February, 2018)
Table of Contents1. Microaggression and the Culture of Victimhood
2. Microaggression and the Structure of Victimhood
3. Trigger Warnings, Safe Spaces, and the Language of Victimhood 4. False Accusations, Moral Panics, and the Manufacture of Victimhood 5. Opposition, Imitation, and the Spread of Victimhood 6. Sociology, Social Justice, and Victimhood7. Victimhood, Academic Freedom, and Free Speech
8. Conclusion
