1st Edition

Twilight of the Social Resurgent Politics in an Age of Disposability

By Henry A. Giroux Copyright 2012
    128 Pages
    by Routledge

    128 Pages
    by Routledge

    In The Twilight of the Social, Henry A. Giroux looks at the decline of social spaces which enable grievances to be dealt with and considers new ways in which citizens can create social spaces today. After decades of neoliberalism, today's young people lack a voice and are saddled with economic, political, and social conditions that have rendered them marginalised and ultimately disposable. Giroux covers a broad range of topics - from youth and the promise of new media technologies, the economic Darwinism of globalisation, and the need for a renewed democratic culture. The Twilight of the Social is a compelling account of the erosion in recent decades of the very idea of 'the social' in America and other societies.

    Introduction Left Behind?; Chapter 1 In the Twilight of the Social State; Chapter 2 The Crisis of Public Values in the Age of the New Media; Chapter 3 The Disappearing Intellectual in the Age of Economic Darwinism; Chapter 4 Living in the Age of Imposed Amnesia; Chapter 5 Defending Higher Education as a Public Good;

    Biography

    Henry A. Giroux

    “Henry Giroux draws up a convincing indictment of a society that sacrifices its youth and its education, and perhaps its future, on the alter of private gain. Giroux is a one-man indignation machine. We need more like him.”
    —Russell Jacoby, UCLA, author of The Last Intellectuals and The End of Utopia


    “Henry Giroux has been the most consistent and outspoken defender and promoter of the life-prospects and human dignity of which young generations were robbed or which they were prevented to recognize as their birth rights. This book offers a profound analysis of the current state of the world and the chances of making it more hospitable to its newcomers--a warning and call to action. Obligatory reading to all of us who care, young and old alike.”
    —Zygmut Bauman

    “Henry Giroux is one of our most important public intellectuals. Though he vividly describes the privatization of compassion, the rapid decline of higher education’s commitment to democracy and shared notions of the public good, the force of Giroux’s writings shows us we are not alone and there is power in his arguments of resistance. This is a vital book that needs to be read by all who are concerned by the death of the common good; it shows us how reason and compassion can triumph over neoliberalism’s forms of social Darwinism.”
    —David H. Price, Professor of Anthropology, St. Martin’s University, and author of Weaponizing Anthropology: Social Science in Service of the Militarized State

    "Henry Giroux has written a prophetic book that explains the catalytic conversion of disillusioned youth, marginalized workers, and devalued people of color into new counter-public spheres and modes of resistance unimaginable a decade ago. Giroux foresees the wide appeal of the “Occupy Wall Street” movement of the “99 percenters,” who are giving reality to utopian dreams of a new socialism that might topple capitalism in the interests of social justice and a habitable world."
    -John Carlos Rowe, USC Associates’ Professor of the Humanities, University of Southern California

    The Toronto Star has named Henry Giroux one of the twelve Canadians changing the way we think! Read the article here:
    Twelve Canadians Changing the Way We Think