The Rise of Victimhood Culture: Microaggressions, Safe Spaces, and the New Culture Wars

Acknowledgments......Page 6
Prologue: After the Election......Page 9
 References......Page 17
Contents......Page 23
Chapter 1: Microaggression and the Culture of Victimhood......Page 26
  The Microaggression Program......Page 28
  Critics of the Microaggression Program......Page 31
  Microaggression and Moral Polarization......Page 36
  A Culture of Honor......Page 37
  A Culture of Dignity......Page 39
  A Culture of Victimhood......Page 40
 Beyond Microaggression......Page 41
 Why Call It Victimhood Culture?......Page 46
  Moral Status and Victimhood......Page 47
  The Cultural Contradictions of Victimhood......Page 49
  The Unconventionality of Victimhood Culture......Page 50
 References......Page 52
Chapter 2: Microaggression and the Structure of Victimhood......Page 62
 The Sociology of Conflict......Page 63
 Conflict and Third Parties......Page 65
  Gossip, Protest, and Complaint to Authority......Page 66
  Social Structure and Moral Dependency......Page 67
  The Logic of Microaggression Campaigns......Page 72
  The Structural Logic of Partisanship......Page 73
  The Structure of Campaigns......Page 75
  Partisanship and Conflict Severity......Page 81
 Domination as Deviance......Page 83
  Microaggression as Overstratification......Page 84
  Microaggression as Underdiversity......Page 85
 The Social Structure of Microaggression......Page 87
 Purity and Tolerance......Page 89
 References......Page 91
Chapter 3: Trigger Warnings, Safe Spaces, and the Language of Victimhood......Page 96
 Trigger Warnings......Page 99
 Safe Spaces......Page 104
 The Harms of Safety......Page 109
 The Language of Harm......Page 111
  Moral Vocabulary......Page 112
  Changing Concepts......Page 114
 Failure to Communicate......Page 118
 The Harms of Harm......Page 120
 References......Page 122
Chapter 4: False Accusations, Moral Panics, and the Manufacture of Victimhood......Page 130
 The Logic of False Accusations......Page 131
  Accusations Against Individuals......Page 132
  Accusations Against Groups......Page 134
 Hate Crime Hoaxes......Page 136
 Credulity and False Accusations......Page 139
 Due Process and False Accusations......Page 140
 False Accusations and Moral Panics......Page 142
  The Duke University Rape Hoax......Page 146
  The University of Virginia Rape Hoax......Page 148
 “Rape Culture” and Moral Panic......Page 152
 References......Page 159
Chapter 5: Opposition, Imitation, and the Spread of Victimhood......Page 167
 Why Moral Cultures Spread......Page 169
 Moral Culture and Child Socialization......Page 170
  Learning Victimhood......Page 172
 Moral Culture and Social Class......Page 174
  Class and Victimhood......Page 176
  Victimhood as Cultural Capital......Page 178
 Opposition and Backlash......Page 179
 Competitive Victimhood......Page 185
  Conservative Victims......Page 187
  Purity Spirals......Page 191
 References......Page 195
Chapter 6: Sociology, Social Justice, and Victimhood......Page 201
 The Promise of Sociology......Page 204
  Sociology and the Enlightenment......Page 205
  Value-Free Sociology......Page 207
  Sociological Technology......Page 209
 The Promise of Social Justice......Page 210
 Social Justice and Victimhood Culture......Page 214
  Sociology’s “Sacred Project”......Page 216
  The Rejection of Value-Free Sociology......Page 220
  Conflict Theory and Victimhood Culture......Page 221
  Public Sociology and the Triumph of Victimhood Culture......Page 225
 Beyond Sociology......Page 227
 References......Page 231
Chapter 7: Victimhood, Academic Freedom, and Free Speech......Page 237
 The Idea of Free Speech......Page 240
  Free Speech and the First Amendment......Page 242
  Free Speech and the University......Page 245
  Free Speech and Academic Freedom......Page 246
 The Idea of Censorship......Page 247
  Speech and Status......Page 248
  Speech as Violence......Page 249
  Censorship, Academic Freedom, and the First Amendment......Page 251
 Censorship on Campus......Page 253
  Riots, Censorship, and Visiting Speakers......Page 255
  Riots, Censorship, and Professors......Page 259
  Title IX, Bias Response Teams, Censorship, and Students......Page 262
  Right-Wing Censorship......Page 264
 References......Page 267
Chapter 8: Conclusion......Page 273
 The Puzzle of Moral Cultures......Page 274
 Sociology as Deviance......Page 277
 Clarifying the Campus Culture Wars......Page 279
 Moral Technology......Page 283
 References......Page 288
Index......Page 290