"'Listening to the silence,' as Americans struggle to avoid civic engagement, Nina Eliasoph has discovered a terriby important truth: political apathy is not 'natural:' it has to be produced. By showing us how apathy is produced she suggests some ways o produce its opposite. She also vividly introduces us to a side of American life about which most academics haven't a clue. This is a book of the first importance for anyone who cares about the future of American democracy" Robert Bellah, Professor of Sociology, Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley

• Acknowledgements; 1. The mysterious shrinking circle of concern; 2. Volunteers trying to make sense of the world; 3. 'Close to home' and 'for the children': trying really hard not to care; 4. Humour, nostalgia and commercial culture in the postmodern public sphere; 5. Creating ignorance and memorizing facts: how Buffaloes understood politics; 6. Strenuous disengagement and cynical chic solidarity; 7. Activists carving out a place in the public sphere for discussion; 8. Newspapers in the cycle of political evaporation; 9. The evaporation of politics in the US public sphere; Appendices; Notes; References; Index.

"'Listening to the silence,' as Americans struggle to avoid civic engagement, Nina Eliasoph has discovered a terriby important truth: political apathy is not 'natural:' it has to be produced. By showing us how apathy is produced she suggests some ways o produce its opposite. She also vividly introduces us to a side of American life about which most academics haven't a clue. This is a book of the first importance for anyone who cares about the future of American democracy" Robert Bellah, Professor of Sociology, Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley

• Acknowledgements; 1. The mysterious shrinking circle of concern; 2. Volunteers trying to make sense of the world; 3. 'Close to home' and 'for the children': trying really hard not to care; 4. Humour, nostalgia and commercial culture in the postmodern public sphere; 5. Creating ignorance and memorizing facts: how Buffaloes understood politics; 6. Strenuous disengagement and cynical chic solidarity; 7. Activists carving out a place in the public sphere for discussion; 8. Newspapers in the cycle of political evaporation; 9. The evaporation of politics in the US public sphere; Appendices; Notes; References; Index.

"'Listening to the silence,' as Americans struggle to avoid civic engagement, Nina Eliasoph has discovered a terriby important truth: political apathy is not 'natural:' it has to be produced. By showing us how apathy is produced she suggests some ways o produce its opposite. She also vividly introduces us to a side of American life about which most academics haven't a clue. This is a book of the first importance for anyone who cares about the future of American democracy" Robert Bellah, Professor of Sociology, Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley

• Acknowledgements; 1. The mysterious shrinking circle of concern; 2. Volunteers trying to make sense of the world; 3. 'Close to home' and 'for the children': trying really hard not to care; 4. Humour, nostalgia and commercial culture in the postmodern public sphere; 5. Creating ignorance and memorizing facts: how Buffaloes understood politics; 6. Strenuous disengagement and cynical chic solidarity; 7. Activists carving out a place in the public sphere for discussion; 8. Newspapers in the cycle of political evaporation; 9. The evaporation of politics in the US public sphere; Appendices; Notes; References; Index.