Oprah Winfrey is the protagonist of the story to be told here, but this book has broader intentions, begins Eva Illouz in this original examination of how and why this talk show host has become a pervasive symbol in American culture. Unlike studies of talk shows that decry debased cultural standards and impoverished political consciousness, Oprah Winfrey and the Glamour of Misery asks us to rethink our perceptions of culture in general and popular culture in particular.

At a time when crises of morality, beliefs, value systems, and personal worth dominate both public and private...

'Cold Intimacies' dispels some conventionally received ideas: namely, that capitalism has created an emotional world dominated by bureaucratic rationality, that economic behavior conflicts with intimate, authentic relationships, that public and private spheres are opposed to each other, and much more.

Looks at the ways social change is expressed through debates over identities and bodies. In bodies and selves, we can see politics, economics, and culture play out, and the tensions and crises of society made visible. The women's movement, lobbies for the elderly, pro-choice and pro-life movements, AIDS research and education, pedophilia and repressed memory, global sports spectacles, organ donor networks, campaigns for safe sex, chastity, or preventive medicine--all are aspects of the contemporary politics of bodies and identities touched on in this book. Three broad themes run through the...

Zu den kulturellen Widersprüchen, die den Kapitalismus kennzeichnen sollen, gehört der Gegensatz von romantischem Liebesideal und der kalten Welt der Ökonomie. Das in den USA preisgekrönte und in Deutschland hymnisch besprochene Buch zeigt dagegen auf, inwiefern die beiden Sphären sich längst wechselseitig beeinflussen und miteinander verschmelzen: Galt die romantische Liebe als letztes Refugium in einer kommerzialisierten Welt, so zeigt Eva Illouz, wie sich etwa die Paarbeziehung unter dem Einfluß des totalen Konsums verändert hat. Die kollektive Utopie der Liebe, einst als...

From its beginnings inTwilightfan-fiction to its record-breaking sales as an e-book and paperback, the story of the erotic romance novelFifty Shades of Greyand its two sequels is both unusual and fascinating. Having sold over seventy million copies worldwide since 2011, E. L. James s lurid series about a sexual ingenue and the powerful young entrepreneur who introduces her to BDSM sex has ingrained itself in our collective consciousness. But why have these particular novelspoorly written and formulaic as they arebecome so popular, especially among women over thirty? In this...