Trivialization and Public Opinion
Slogans, Substance, and Styles of Thought in the Age of Complexity
Authors: Bubak, Oldrich, Jacek, Henry
Free Preview- Conceptualizes trivialization and presents its key enablers
- Explores the implications of trivialization in public opinion and avenues for improvement
- Discusses a new paradigm and its promises to discourse and beyond
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- About this book
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Centering on public discourse and its fundamental lapses, this book takes a unique look at key barriers to social and political advancement in the information age. Public discourse is replete with confident, easy to manage claims, intuitions, and other shortcuts; outstanding of these is trivialization, the trend to distill multifaceted dilemmas to binary choices, neglect the big picture, gloss over alternatives, or filter reality through a lens of convenience—leaving little room for nuance and hence debate. Far from superficial, such lapses are symptoms of deeper, intrinsically connected shortcomings inviting further attention. Focusing primarily on industrialized democracies, the authors take their readers on a transdisciplinary journey into the world of trivialization, engaging as they do so the intricate issues borne of a modern environment both enabled and constrained by technology. Ultimately, the authors elaborate upon the emerging counterweights to conventional worldviews and the paradigmatic alternatives that promise to help open new avenues for progress.
- About the authors
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Oldrich Bubak is a scholar and author focusing on society, politics, and technology. He is currently at McMaster University, Canada, where he conducts research in comparative public policy.
Henry Jacek is Professor Emeritus of Political Science and Public Policy at McMaster University, Canada. His teaching and research has focused on the organization of political life and the establishment and implementation of public policies.
- Reviews
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“Taking a transdisciplinary view, this innovative title serves both as an important addition and a challenge to the existing research in communications and in social sciences more generally. Trivialization offers a useful perspective on public discourse, and a sensible entry-point to the often hidden universe of mostly unquestioned assumptions, all requiring a thorough debate. I highly recommend this book to all readers seeking a more complete picture of change, so needed in our increasingly complex society.” (D. R. F. Taylor, Distinguished Research Professor, Carleton University, Canada)
“This is an important book that should be read by anyone concerned about the current state of political discourse in the industrialized democracies. Further, it adds significantly to the scholarly debates in its field. Readers will no doubt tend to ask themselves what we can learn from history, whether we can modify academic approaches to critical thinking to handle complexity and contingency and avoid ‘incredible certitude.’ We should all learn to listen and to ask: ‘how do you know.’” (Fred Fletcher, Professor Emeritus of Communication Studies and Political Science, York University, Canada)
- Table of contents (11 chapters)
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Introduction
Pages 3-26
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Trivialization
Pages 27-48
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The Uneasy World of “Isms”
Pages 49-68
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Democracy (Re)Imagined
Pages 71-94
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Bringing in the Public
Pages 95-116
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Table of contents (11 chapters)
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Bibliographic Information
- Bibliographic Information
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- Book Title
- Trivialization and Public Opinion
- Book Subtitle
- Slogans, Substance, and Styles of Thought in the Age of Complexity
- Authors
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- Oldrich Bubak
- Henry Jacek
- Copyright
- 2019
- Publisher
- Palgrave Macmillan
- Copyright Holder
- The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s)
- eBook ISBN
- 978-3-030-17925-0
- DOI
- 10.1007/978-3-030-17925-0
- Hardcover ISBN
- 978-3-030-17924-3
- Softcover ISBN
- 978-3-030-17927-4
- Edition Number
- 1
- Number of Pages
- XVII, 271
- Number of Illustrations
- 1 b/w illustrations, 1 illustrations in colour
- Topics
