Charles Derber is professor in the Department of
Sociology at Boston College.
Yale R. Magrass is Chancellor professor in the
Department of Sociology/Anthropology at the University of
Massachusetts-Dartmouth.
"[The] thesis that bullying is an endemic and fundamental feature
of American society is compelling, even if it is an inconvenient
truth."--Social Forces"A thought-provoking text that invites
readers to reflect on the structural forces that drive individuals
to engage in bullying behaviors and highlights the need for
further, and more systematic, research on the development of
bullying in the social media age, the rising tide of anti-bullying
activism, and the effectiveness of the anti-bullying measures that
have been enacted in recent years."--Political Science
Quarterly
"A canny and sobering look at bullying behavior and how it
permeates our nation's major institutions. When children do it, we
abhor it. When our leaders do it, we usually applaud it. The
authors remind us."--Oliver Stone "This thoughtful study expertly
dissects the 'bullying scourge' that poisons lives and society,
exposing its roots in the institutional structure of a
'militaristic capitalist culture' that it reflects and nurtures,
while also revealing the encouraging reactions that may offer cures
for the malady and the factors that engender it."--Noam
Chomsky"Bully Nation is the most comprehensive analysis of bullying
yet published. It is a brilliant book that refuses to define
bullying as merely a psychological concept. Instead, it addresses
in great detail the interplay of bullying as having its roots in a
range of historical, economic, political, and social conditions. In
this instance, bullying functions as a metaphor to connect the
private the public, specific acts of violence to larger forms of
systemic violence. Rather than treat bullying as part of a rite of
passage confined to the often difficult process of growing up,
Derber and Magrass treat it as a systemic force that produces
values, social relations, structures, and collective identities
steeped in violence and aggression. This is a powerful and
compelling book that addresses one of the most important social
problems of our time. It should be read by all educators, parents,
and anyone else interested in a world free of aggression and
violence. Bully Nation deserves widespread attention."--Henry
Giroux, author of Zombie Politics and Culture in the Age of Casino
Capitalism "Bully Nation is absolutely terrific, an important,
powerful and timely book that should be read by academic and public
audiences alike. The authors have done a remarkable job of taking
the topical social problem of bullying, which has received a great
deal of attention over the past decade, and extrapolating it to
economic, political, corporate and militaristic bullying. We come
to understand that bullying isn't just for the schoolyard, it's a
socio-pathology woven throughout our culture and guiding much of
the way that the political economy is run. Their illuminating
analysis illustrates how corporations and governments bully not
only citizens--the 99%--but also the planet, and with reckless
abandon. The consequences are potentially dire--for our culture,
for the middle class, for the nation's and world's poor, and for
the survival of the planet. Without question, this is a book that
will have wide appeal to academics, students, and public audiences.
I imagine using this book in my own courses and am already
anticipating with great excitement the important discussion that
will be opened with my students as they grapple with the bully
nation, and with the most important issues facing their
generation."--Jonathan White, author of Sociologists in Action:
Sociology, Social Change, and Social Justice"Derber and Magrass
force us to rethink our concept of bullying. Moving beyond the
relatively limited focus on the psychological paradigm and
interactions among children, they instead situate the process in a
broader institutional context and relationships among adults. Their
creative and expert treatment of bullying brings in the economy,
the military, dominant political organizations, and indeed global
inequalities as well. Their analysis of 'structural bullying'
fulfills C. Wright Mills's call for a sociological imagination that
links personal problems to our social world. Their contribution
offers new ideas, not only on the concept and sources of the
behavior, but also on the direction where more humane and effective
solutions will be found."--Paul Joseph, editor of The Many Faces of
War: A Social Science Encyclopedia "A welcome departure from the
popular habit of reducing distasteful behavior to family
pathologies or genetic dispositions, Bully Nation is an important
example of how intelligent social science can help heal the world.
If bullying is rooted in history and structured by institutions,
then citizen action can do something about it." --John Ehrenberg,
author of Civil Society: The Critical History of an Idea"Clear and
compelling. Its case for shifting our focus from individual
schoolyard bullies to power imbalances in American society is badly
needed in current discussions of bullying. A brilliant example of
the sociological imagination at work."--Daniel Geary, author of
Beyond Civil Rights: The Moynihan Report and Its Legacy
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