Talking Politics

William Gamson asks, how is it that so many people become active in movements if they are so uninterested and badly informed about issues?

William A. Gamson (Author)

9780521436793, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 28 August 1992

292 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.7 cm, 0.44 kg

"...with a fine integration of findings from other studies, the book is a major contribution to our understanding of how people develop political consciousness." R. E. O'Connor, Choice

Those who analyze public opinion have long contended that the average citizen is incapable of recounting consistently even the most rudimentary facts about current politics; that the little the average person does know is taken strictly from what the media report, with no critical reflection; and that the consequence is a polity that is ill prepared for democratic governance. And yet social movements, comprised by and large of average citizens, have been a prominent feature of the American political scene throughout American history and have experienced a resurgence. William Gamson asks, how is it that so many people become active in movements if they are so uninterested and badly informed about issues? The conclusion he reaches in this book is a striking refutation of the common wisdom about the public's inability to reason about politics.

List of figures and tables
Preface
1. Political consciousness
2. Conversations and media discourse
Part I. Collective Action Frames: 3. Injustoce
4. Agency
5. Identity
6. Talk and action
Part II. How People Negotiate Meaning: 7. Media, popular wisdom, and experience
8. Cultural resonances
9. Proximity and engagement
10. Developing political consciousness
Appendices
Notes
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Communication studies [GTC]