Peter N. Stearns draws on his long career as a historian of emotions to provide the foundational text on shame's history and how this history contributes to contemporary issues around the emotion. Summarizing current research, Stearns unpacks the major debates that surround this complex emotion. He also surveys the changing role of shame in the United States from the nineteenth century to today, including shame's revival as a force in the 1960s and its place in today's social media. Looking ahead, he maps the abundant opportunities for future historical research and historically informed interdisciplinary scholarship.
Written for interested readers and scholars alike, Shame combines significant new research with a wider synthesis.
| Cover Title Copyright Contents List of Illustrations Preface Acknowledgments 1. Exploring Shame: The Interdisciplinary Context 2. Shame and Shaming in Premodern Societies 3. The Impact of Modernity: Some Possibilities 4. Reconsidering Shame in Western Society: The Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries 5. The Revival of Shame: Contemporary History Afterword Notes Further Reading Index Author | A Choice Outstanding Title, 2018 — A Choice Outstanding Title, 2018|Peter N. Stearns is University Professor of World History and the provost emeritus of George Mason University. His many books include Peace in World History and World History: The Basics, and he is the coeditor of Doing Emotions History.