Mistrust : an ethnographic theory / Matthew Carey.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Carey, Matthew, author.

Series:

The Malinowski monographs

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social sciences.

Suspicion.

Social psychology.

Physical Description:

xiv, 128 pages ; 23 cm.

1 online resource (147 p.)

Place of Publication:

Chicago, IL USA HAU Books 2017

Chicago, IL USA : HAU Books, 2017.

Language Note:

English.

Summary:

Trust occupies a unique place in contemporary discourse. Seen as both necessary and good, it is variously depicted as enhancing the social fabric, lowering crime rates, increasing happiness, and generating prosperity. It allows for complex political systems, permits human communication, underpins financial instruments and economic institutions, and holds society itself together. There is scant space within this vision for a nuanced discussion of mistrust. With few exceptions, it is treated as little more than a corrosive absence. This monograph, instead, proposes an ethnographic and conceptual exploration of mistrust as a legitimate epistemological stance in its own right. It examines the impact of mistrust on practices of conversation and communication, friendship and society, as well as politics and cooperation, and suggests that suspicion, doubt, and uncertainty can also ground ways of organizing human society and cooperating with others.

Contents:

Introduction: the apotheosis of trust

Chapter 1. Lying and obfuscation: the uncertain ground of speech

Chapter 2. Trust or tolerance ? on the treachery of friends

Chapter 3. The triumph of contingency : anarchism as realpolitik

Chapter 4. Conspiracy, witchcraft and theft : manifestations of the mistrusting imagination

Conclusion.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 111-124) and index.

CC BY

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780997367522 (pbk.)

9780997367522

0997367520

9781912808137

1912808137

Access Restriction:

Open Access Unrestricted online access