Is Shame Necessary?: New Uses for an Old Tool - Softcover

"Powerful. . . . An incisive argument. . . . [Jacquet's] results are fascinating." --Chicago Tribune

"A sharp dissection. . . . [Jacquet] exposes the ways shame plays into collective ideas of punishment and reward, and the social mechanisms that dictate the ways we dictate our behavior." --The Boston Globe

"Thought-provoking." --The Economist

"This wonderful, important, and timely book shows us that the glue that really holds society together is not laws and diktats but honor and shame. Jennifer Jacquet has identi-fied and articulated the social tools by which it might just be possible to encourage better long-term behavior from those big players . . . who are otherwise able to find their way around the law." --Brian Eno

"Provocative. . . . Jacquet systematically explores the nature of shaming and some of the psychological evidence that shows why it works. In doing so, she makes a strong case for the value of shaming for shaping and enforcing social norms." --New Scientist

"[Jacquet's] arguments are backed by interesting research and her moral conviction is refreshing, particularly given how destructive the emotion she analyzes can be." --Los Angeles Times

"[Is Shame Necessary?] mines the possibilities of shame to be used as an agent for positive change. Where the book lands is as unexpected as it is revelatory." --Gawker

"In this thought-provoking, wonderfully readable book, Jacquet argues that shaming is far from obsolete and can be an effective weapon wielded by the weak against the strong." --Robert Sapolsky, author of A Primate's Memoir

"[Jacquet's] argument is supported with persuasive stories and a thumping set of statistics." --The Daily Telegraph

"[A] concise, well-paced, relevant, and witty work." --Brooklyn Rail

"Shame is no longer unfashionable, thanks to Jennifer Jacquet. This book describes, in sparkling prose, how important a sense of shame is to civilized life." --Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of Flow

"Thoughtful and measured." --Huffington Post

"A book that gives shame a good name--and just in time--because it reinforces our better angels, cements our communities, and, crucially, because our planet needs us to feel it. Well argued, beautifully written, sophisticated, and down to earth." --Sherry Turkle, author of Alone Together

"A sharp examination of the role shaming plays in our society and its effectiveness as a tool for change." --ParisReview.org

"Intellectually stimulating. . . . A sharp and surprising dissertation." --Kirkus Reviews (starred)

"Jacquet trenchantly and engagingly analyzes how we might resurrect one public emotion--shame--and put it to good use in our collective lives, influencing public discourse and public policy." --Nicholas Christakis, coauthor of Connected

"[A] diligent examination." --Financial Times

"An astute how-to and defense of shame. . . . After describing useful techniques for applying shame, the book turns to the specific areas where it could be put to good use." --Publishers Weekly

An urgent, illuminating exploration of the social nature of shame and of how it might be used to promote large-scale political change and social reform.

In cultures that champion the individual, guilt is advertised as the cornerstone of conscience. But while guilt holds individuals to personal standards, it is powerless in the face of corrupt institutions. In recent years, we as consumers have sought to assuage our guilt about flawed social and environmental practices and policies by, for example, buying organic foods or fair-trade products. Unless nearly everyone participates, however, the impact of individual consumer consciousness is ineffective.

Is Shame Necessary? presents us with a trenchant case for public shaming as a nonviolent form of resistance that can challenge corporations and even governments to change policies and behaviors that are detrimental to the environment. Jennifer Jacquet argues that public shaming, when it has been retrofitted for the age of social media and aimed in the proper direction, can help compensate for the limitations of guilt in a globalized world. Jacquet leaves us with a new understanding of how public shame, when applied in the right way and at the right time, has the capacity to keep us from failing other species in life’s fabric and, ultimately, from failing ourselves.
From the Hardcover edition.