Suchergebnisse

Narratives of suffering : six stories in search of a better world -- Act I setting scenes : narrative power as a way of seeing -- Narrative actions of power -- Narrative power as the struggle for human value -- Act 2 locating tensions : narrative precariousness -- Narrative inequalities : dominance, resistance and everyday power -- Narrative digitalism : transforming story and power -- Narrative governance : negotiating world stories of power -- Narrative contingencies : the story of narrative actions -- Act 3 re-valuing futures : narrative hope -- Narrative wisdoms, narrative sustainability : political pathways ahead

Narratives are the wealth of nations: they animate life, sustain culture and cultivate humanity. They regulate and empower us, bringing both joy and discontent. And they are always embedded in ubiquitous power: stories shape power and power shapes story. In this provocative and original study Ken Plummer takes us on a journey to explore some of the key dimensions of this narrative power. His main focus is on what he calls narratives of suffering and how these change through transformative narrative actions across an array of media forms. The modern world is in crisis and long-standing narratives are being challenged in four major directions: through deep inequalities, global state complexities, digital risks, and the ever-emerging contingencies of time. Asking how we can build sustainable stories for a better future, the book advocates the cultivation of a narrative hope, a narrative wisdom and a critical narrative citizenship. Narrative Power suggests novel directions for enquiry, discusses a raft of innovative ideas and concepts, and sets a striking new agenda for research and action.

Intro -- Contents -- Preface and Acknowledgments -- 1 / Intimate Troubles -- 2 / Postmodern Intimacies: New Lives in a Late Modern World -- 3 / Culture Wars and Contested Intimacies -- 4 / The New Theories of Citizenship -- 5 / Public Intimacies, Private Citizens -- 6 / Dialogic Citizenship -- 7 / Stories and the Grounded Moralities of Everyday Life -- 8 / Globalizing Intimate Citizenship -- 9 / The Intimate Citizenship Project -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index of Names -- Subject Index.

Presenting an introduction to the diverse ways of thinking about social life, this book examines: the scope, history and purpose of sociology; ways of understanding 'the social'; the state of the world we live in; suffering and social inequalities; key tools for researching and thinking about the social; and, the impact of the technologies.

Documents of Life was originally published in 1983 and became a classic text, providing both a persuasive argument for a particular approach and a manifesto for social research. As a critique of anti-humanist methodology in the social sciences, it championed the use of life stories and other personal documents in research which are now widely used today. This book is a substantially revised and expanded version which takes on recent developments. Providing numerous illustrations from a range of life documents, the book traces the history of the method, examines ways of 'doing life story' resea