Summary
Contents
Subject index
For more than thirty years neoliberalism has declared that market functioning trumps all other social, political, and economic values. In this book, Nick Couldry passionately argues for voice, the effective opportunity for people to speak and be heard on what affects their lives, as the only value that can truly challenge neoliberal politics. But having voice is not enough: we need to know our voice matters. Insisting that the answer goes much deeper than simply calling for ‘more voices’, whether on the streets or in the media, Couldry presents a dazzling range of analysis from the real world of Blair and Obama to the social theory of Judith Butler and Amartya Sen.
Why Voice Matters breaks open the contradictions in neoliberal thought and shows how the mainstream media not only fails to provide the means for people to give an account of themselves, but also reinforces neoliberal values. Moving beyond the despair common to much of today's analysis, Couldry shows us a vision of a democracy based on social cooperation and offers the resources we need to build a new post-neoliberal politics.
Sociologies of Voice
Sociologies of Voice
What would a sociology look like that paid attention to voice – that is to the conditions under which we can give accounts of our lives and to how those accounts are valued, or perhaps not valued at all?
This neglected aspect of sociological inquiry has potential for detailed application in any area of life (work, family, consumption, politics), and clearly, in one brief chapter, we cannot apply this approach across all those specific domains. Just as important, in any case, are the connections, or missing connections, between different areas of life. When workers interviewed by Guardian journalist Madeleine Bunting found that their values counted for little in influencing their working conditions, even though those same conditions invaded their home and ...
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