Life Advice from Below

The Public Role of Self-Help Coaches in Germany and China
Erscheinungsjahr 2017
ISBN: 978-90-04-31957-8
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, 238 Seiten, Format (B × H): 160 mm x 239 mm, Gewicht: 522 g

Reihe: International comparative social studies

In Life Advice from Below, Eric C. Hendriks offers the first systematic, comparative study of the globalization of American-style self-help culture and the cultural conflicts this creates in different national contexts. The self-help guru is an archetypical American figure associated with individualism, materialism and the American Dream. Nonetheless, the self-help industry is spreading globally, thriving in China and other seemingly unlikely places. Controversy follows in its wake, as the self-help industry, operating outside of formal education and state institutions, outflanks philosophical, religious and political elites who have their own visions of the Good Life. Through a comparison of Germany and China, Hendriks analyzes how the competition between self-help gurus and institutional authorities unfolds under radically different politico-cultural regimes.

“This witty book charms its way through a very serious sociology of the seriously quirky field of self-help books. Read it for its fascinating pop-culture insights and you’ll come away with a deep understanding of contemporary sociological theory. Highly recommended.” - Salvatore Babones, University of Sydney

“Hendriks’ finding that Germany rather than China is more resistant to self-help gurus offers a powerful corrective to the assumption in much of the globalization literature that the greatest cultural divide is between the Anglo-Western European sphere and the rest of the globe.” - Rodney Benson, New York University

Autoren/Hrsg.

Hendriks, Eric C

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Psychologie Psychologische Disziplinen Coaching, Training, Supervision
• Sozialwissenschaften Pädagogik Berufliche Bildung Coaching, Training, Supervision
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Betriebswirtschaft Coaching, Training, Supervision
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziologie Allgemein Gesellschaftstheorie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface
List of Figures and Tables

1 Introduction

2 Cultural Fields in the Public Sphere

3 The Persistence of National Regimes

4 Global Popular Culture and Self-Help

5 Lines of Conflict

6 Mapping and Comparing Social Space

7 The German Self-Help Field

8 Clashing into Germany’s Corporatist Welfare Regime

9 The Chinese Self-Help Field

10 Coexisting with China’s Institutional Authorities

11 Conclusion

Bibliography
Index

Über Autor(innen)

Eric C. Hendriks, Ph.D., studied at Utrecht, UC Berkeley, Göttingen, the University of Chicago, and Mannheim, and presently works as a postdoc in sociology at Peking University. His research focuses on the politico-cultural regime differences between China and liberal democracies.