Talking about politics : informal groups and social identity in American life / Katherine Cramer Walsh.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cramer, Katherine J. (Katherine Jean)

Series:

Studies in communication, media, and public opinion.

Studies in communication, media, and public opinion

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Communication in politics.

Group identity.

Discussion.

Political sociology.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (310 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, c2004.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Whether at parties, around the dinner table, or at the office, people talk about politics all the time. Yet while such conversations are a common part of everyday life, political scientists know very little about how they actually work. In Talking about Politics, Katherine Cramer Walsh provides an innovative, intimate study of how ordinary people use informal group discussions to make sense of politics. Walsh examines how people rely on social identities-their ideas of who "we" are-to come to terms with current events. In Talking about Politics, she shows how political conversation, friendship, and identity evolve together, creating stronger communities and stronger social ties. Political scientists, sociologists, and anyone interested in how politics really works need to read this book.

Contents:

Introduction : the public's part of public discussion

The role of identity-based perspectives in making sense of politics

The social practice of informal political talk

Clarifying social identity through group interaction

Talking politics in a context of understanding

Public discussion of the daily news

The data are not given : perspectives, political trust, and the 2000 election

Social interaction, political divides.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 261-282) and index.

ISBN:

9786612538209

9781282538207

1282538209

9780226872216

0226872211

OCLC:

630542353