Measuring Up: The Performance Ethic In American Culture

Measuring Up: The Performance Ethic In American Culture
ISBN-10
0429978634
ISBN-13
9780429978630
Series
Measuring Up
Category
Social Science
Pages
176
Language
English
Published
2018-02-15
Publisher
Routledge
Author
James Mannon

Description

This is an exploration of the problems caused by the relentless pressure many Americans feel to measure up successfully in respect of school grades, beauty, economic achievement, and various quantified aptitudes. The book focuses on various aspects, both major and minor, of social and cultural life, discussing topics such as culture, socialization, peer groups, reference groups, presentations of self, gender roles, class inequality, deindustrialization, corporate downsizing, status systems, and human agency. Having taken his critical look at modern cultural values that support the performance ethic, the author concludes with hope for a reorientation of values that could promote a more productive sense of identity in America.

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