A nation of meddlers
By: Charles Edgley, Dennis Brissett.
Contributors: Brissett, Dennis.
Publisher: Westview Press
Published: 1999
Place of publication: Boulder, CO
Language: eng
Number of pages: 274
Subjects: Social control -- United States; Social reformers -- United States; Privacy -- United States; Liberty; United States -- Social policy
Description: There was a time when the phrase "It's none of your business" meant something. Not anymore. A boorish and persistent army of meddlers, equipped with righteous indignation and a formidable array of theories and technologies, has made almost everyone's business its own. Meddling in the lives of others is now the republic's most visible obsession.

Working within the symbolic interactionist tradition of cultural analysis and criticism, Charles Edgley and Dennis Brissett analyze this emergent phenomenon with insightful and provocative descriptions about how we came to be this way, why meddling is so appealing, and how meddling is packaged and marketed. Their conclusion offers wise and sometimes witty cautions about the proper relationship between the individual and society.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.