{"product_id":"9780674768680-secondhand-the-rhetoric-of-reaction-perversity-futility-jeopardy","title":"The Rhetoric of Reaction: Perversity, Futility, Jeopardy","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eNB: This is a secondhand book in very good condition.  See our FAQs for more information. Please note that the jacket image is indicative only.  A description of our secondhand books is not always available.  Please contact  us if you have a question about this title.\u003cbr\u003e\n\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthor: Albert O. Hirschman\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\nFormat: Paperback \n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\nNumber of Pages: 224\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA note on this book:  This book has some marking and writing throughout the text.  It has been reduced in price accordingly.  Please lodge an enquiry if you would like more information about this specific book. Description:  With engaging wit and subtle irony, Albert Hirschman maps the diffuse and treacherous world of reactionary rhetoric in which conservative public figures, thinkers, and polemicists have been arguing against progressive agendas and reforms for the past two hundred years.  Hirschman draws his examples from three successive waves of reactive thought that arose in response to the liberal ideas of the French Revolution and the Declaration of the Rights of Man, to democratization and the drive toward universal suffrage in the nineteenth century, and to the welfare state in our own century. In each case he identifies three principal arguments invariably used: (1) the perversity thesis, whereby any action to improve some feature of the political, social, or economic order is alleged to result in the exact opposite of what was intended; (2) the futility thesis, which predicts that attempts at social transformation will produce no effects whatever-will simply be incapable of making a dent in the status quo; (3) the jeopardy thesis, holding that the cost of the proposed reform is unacceptable because it will endanger previous hard-won accomplishments. He illustrates these propositions by citing writers across the centuries from Alexis de Tocqueville to George Stigler, Herbert Spencer to Jay Forrester, Edmund Burke to Charles Murray. Finally, in a lightning turnabout, he shows that progressives are frequently apt to employ closely related rhetorical postures, which are as biased as their reactionary counterparts. For those who aspire to the genuine dialogue that characterizes a truly democratic society, Hirschman points out that both types of rhetoric function, in effect, as contraptions designed to make debate impossible. In the process, his book makes an original contribution to democratic thought.  The Rhetoric of Reaction is a delightful handbook for all discussions of public affairs, the welfare state, and the history of social, economic, and political thought, whether conducted by ordinary citizens or academics.","brand":"Secondhand Stock","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43985492410587,"sku":"9780674768680-SECONDHAND","price":10.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0523\/7646\/9701\/products\/9780674768680-us-300.jpg?v=1677643864","url":"https:\/\/bookgrocer.com\/products\/9780674768680-secondhand-the-rhetoric-of-reaction-perversity-futility-jeopardy","provider":"Book Grocer","version":"1.0","type":"link"}