The goal of this volume is to explore the social and political dynamics of rumor and the related concept of urban or contemporary legend. These forms of communication often appear in tandem with social problems, including riots, racial or political violence, and social and economic upheavals. The volume emphasizes the connection of rumor to a set of social concerns from government corruption and corporate scandal, to racial, religious, and other prejudices. Central to the dialogue are issues of truth, belief, history, public policy, and evidence.

Rumor has been recognized as one of...

The goal of this volume is to explore the social and political dynamics of rumor and the related concept of urban or contemporary legend. These forms of communication often appear in tandem with social problems, including riots, racial or political violence, and social and economic upheavals. The volume emphasizes the connection of rumor to a set of social concerns from government corruption and corporate scandal, to racial, religious, and other prejudices. Central to the dialogue are issues of truth, belief, history, public policy, and evidence.

Rumor has been recognized as one of...

In 1987 horrific tales of organ theft that had been circulating in Central and South America for years caught the attention of the international media. Soon reports came from all over the planet, rising to a crescendo in the late 1990s. Veronique Campion-Vincent describes these narratives in detail and classifies them as three basic types: the Baby Parts Story, Eye Thieves, and Kidney Heists. She then recounts the social problems that seemed to make these awful legends plausible--trade in human organs bought from the living poor; advances in modern medicine which seemed to blur the lines...