Of flying saucers and social scientists: a re-reading of When Prophecy Fails and of cognitive dissonance
Introduction : the issue of the scale of the event : one object or three parties? -- Part 1. The presuppositions of the various parties -- The social scientists -- The group and the mediums -- The press -- Part 2. The events and their rationales -- The sociology of secrecy -- Language of science, la...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Print Book |
| Language: | English |
| Subito Delivery Service: | Order now. |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| WorldCat: | WorldCat |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
New York [u.a.]
Palgrave Macmillan
2013
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| In: | Year: 2013 |
| Edition: | First edition |
| Series/Journal: | Palgrave Pivot
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| Further subjects: | B
Prophecies (Occultism)
Social aspects
B Cognitive Dissonance B Festinger, Leon (1919-1989) When prophecy fails B Prophecies (Occultism) Psychological aspects B Festinger, Leon 1919-1989 |
| Summary: | Introduction : the issue of the scale of the event : one object or three parties? -- Part 1. The presuppositions of the various parties -- The social scientists -- The group and the mediums -- The press -- Part 2. The events and their rationales -- The sociology of secrecy -- Language of science, language of secrecy -- A dialogue of the deaf -- Gains Do prophecies in fact fail? A small group led by spirit mediums, infiltrated by social scientists, and reported on at intervals by the press: Together, these different parties create a sequence of mutual misunderstandings that leads both to a series of missed appointments with flying saucers from distant planets and to success in averting a global catastrophe. This volume proposes a re-reading of Leon Festinger's classic work on cognitive dissonance, offering a different account of the motivations and meanings of a group expecting the arrival of spacemen from another planet and anticipating the End of the World, and incorporating the social scientists who studied them into the picture. The author explores the relations between anthropology and psychology and between social scientific and natural scientific accounts of human behaviour, contributing to ideas about the role of science in contemporary society and to the sociology of secrecy.--Publisher's description |
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| Item Description: | Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Physical Description: | ix, 100 Seiten |
| ISBN: | 978-1-349-47328-1 978-1-137-36445-6 |
