The rise of the shame society : America's change from a guilt culture into a shame culture / Marcel H. Van Herpen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Herpen, Marcel H. van, 1945- author.

Contributor:

Bloomsbury (Firm), publisher.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Shame--Social aspects--United States.

Shame.

Social psychology--United States.

Social psychology.

Manners and customs.

Shame--Social aspects.

United States--Social life and customs--1971-.

United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xxv, 215 pages) : illustrations

Distribution:

New York : Bloomsbury Publishing(US), 2022.

Place of Publication:

Lanham : Lexington Books, [2022]

Summary:

American society is often characterized as a “guilt culture,” as opposed to non-Western “shame cultures.” But is this distinction still valid today? Through examples like shaming penalties in criminal law, “fat shaming,” and cyberbullying on the social media, The Rise of the Shame Society: America’s Change from a Guilt Culture into a Shame Culture shows how shame is increasingly invading our lives, leading to feelings of humiliation and depression. Marcel Van Herpen identifies three causes of this phenomenon: new childrearing methods, the advent of the social media, and a transformation of Western individualism. He weighs the arguments for and against a shame society and concludes that a guilt-centered approach remains preferable. Although shame increasingly permeates everyday life, the author argues that its rise is not a fatality. He emphasizes that shame is a dynamic phenomenon and that one can observe trends which lead to an increase of shame, as well as to its decrease. Examples of the latter are a growing sensitivity to the pain caused by anti-Black racism, the decrease of anti-LGBTQIA+ prejudices, and efforts to end the stigmatization of people with disabilities. Along with exploring its increase, The Rise of the Shame Society demonstrates that there are ways to overcome shame.

Contents:

Introduction: The rise of the modern shame society

Prologue: Guilt versus shame

What is shame and what is guilt and which of the two is "better"?

New shaming practices : back to the past?

The changing character of individualism

Economic individualism : individualism's "ugly face"?

The "other-directed person" : conformity instead of individualism?

Joyless consumption

Expressive individualism and its holy grail : "authenticity"

How expressive individualism morphed into narcissism

The narcissist's pursuit of the perfect body

Narcissism goes global

The happiness revolution

De-shaming processes I : is racial shame becoming "old shame"?

De-shaming processes II : de-shaming of LGBTQI people and people with a disability

The emergence of new shame I : fat shaming

The emergence of new shame II : Hikikomori : the young hermits

Conclusion: Respect : what is it and to whom do we owe it?

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Description based on online resource; title from digital title page (ProQuest Ebook Central, viewed on February 10, 2023).

ISBN:

979-82-16-41456-8

1-66691-469-X

OCLC:

1323328403