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"With a gift for unusual and graphic language and an ear tuned to unspoken inferences, Nina Eliasoph uncovers layer upon layer of meanings in the 'plain text' of her volunteer group respondents. She hears the voices of the silent, penetrates the heart of the heartless, and knows what knowledgeable scholars do not yet understand. Avoiding Politics is a delightful entry into the backstage worlds of people who are 'ordinary'only in the universality of their attempts to escape from the politics that shapes their lives." Robert E. Lane, Professor of Political Science, Emeritus, Yale University
"Nina Eliasoph is a dazzling new entry in the debates over the empirical nature of participatory democracy (challenging Habermas Verba, Putnam, Gamson, Schudson, Wyatt, Noelle-Neumann and the rest). She argues that participatory democracy is failing not because space and time for citizen interaction are unavailable, but because American culture has 'decided' (1) that interest politics are the only kind of politics, and (2) that such politics are divisive and discouraging to decent citizens banded together for badly needed companionship, and even for 'doing good'!" Elihu Katz, Trustee Professor at the Annenberg School of Communication, University of Pennsylvania, and Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Communications at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
"Eliasoph's book is a powerful antidote to the one-dimensional cynicism generated by media descriptions of what Americans really care about." Tikkun
"In this interesting and useful book, Eliasoph...examines the ways in which Americans `avoid politics' in their daily lives....an impressive examination of the crucial question of democracy: can there be democracy without citizens? Recommended at all levels." Choice
"I recommend this book to any activist who's sick of boring meetings and would like to argue for changing the culture of her group--or anyone who's ever wondered why they should care at all." Jane Slaughter, Metro Times
"...it is provocative and well worth reading. It makes a stimulating contribution to the field of political participation and participant observation research." Jon S. Ebeling, Perspectives on Political Science
"...her book is a big, innovative help in the ongoing attempt to think and rethink strategies for producing something else, for creating spaces in which 'public' talk is neither trivial or inhibited." American Journal of Sociology