The global grapevine
Subtitle: why rumors of terrorism, immigration, and trade matter
By: Gary Alan Fine, Bill Ellis.
Contributors: Ellis, Bill, 1950-
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2010
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 255
ISBN-13: 9780199736317
Subjects: Rumor; Globalization -- Social aspects
Description: ""A flat world allows bad ideas to travel faster. Using illustrations ranging from the history of the vampire to modern rumors about terrorism, Gary Alan Fine and Bill Ellis explain what happens when cultures collide, and they make you a smarter citizen of an increasingly connected world. If you want to spot the next whopper that appears in your in-box (or springs from the mouth of a television commentator) this book is essential."--. Chip Heath, author of Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die" ""In this readable, insightful book, Fine and Ellis offer a tight analysis of loose talk. They show how seemingly unrelated rumors-9-11 conspiracy theories, warnings about dangerous imported goods, and stories about stolen body parts-reveal a common theme: many people's discomfort regarding their growing experience with and exposure to what strikes them as foreign. Other analysts may cheer that the world is shrinking and getting flatter, but the stories we tell one another suggest that globalization remains pretty scary for lots of folks."--Joel Best, author of Stat-Sporting: A Field Guide to Identifying Dubious Data" ""This is a brilliant piece of cultural criticism. Fine and Ellis rigorously scrutinize the rampant paranoid rumors of our time, explaining how and why these fantasies form, what they mean, and how we should deal with them. Everyone who listens to talk radio or uses the Internet should read this book."--Jan Harold Brunvand, author of Encyclopedia of Urban Legends"--Jacket.
Notes: Includes index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction: rumor: plausible and credible; title: Rumor and September 11th: understanding the unthinkable; title: A riot of conspiracies; title: Migrants: disease in the body politics; title: "There goes the neighborhood": Latino migrants and immigration rumors; title: Tourist troubles: the travels of global rumor; title: The menace of international trade; title: Global trafficking in bodies; title: Whispers on the borderline.