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Cultures of optimism

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Bennett, Oliver, 1950-. (2011) Cultures of optimism. Cultural Sociology, Vol.5 (No.2). pp. 301-320. ISSN 1749-9755

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1749975511401270

Abstract

Drawing on material from a broad range of fields, this article identifies an ‘optimism of everyday life’ and proposes that it performs significant psychological, social and cultural functions. These functions are briefly reviewed, with particular reference to psychological and physical health, family and social relationships and the achievement of goals in different contexts. It is argued that the necessity of optimism has given rise to a complex of optimism promoters, which function as agents of implicit cultural policy. The family, religious institutions, the medical profession, psychotherapists and counsellors, businesses and political leaders are, amongst others, all seen to be part of this complex, deeply engaged in the reproduction of a culture of optimism. Whilst a multiplicity of values is reflected in individual expressions of optimism, a kind of meta-value is expressed in its common, cognitive form: of energy over entropy, of living over dying.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
Divisions:	Faculty of Arts > Theatre, Performance and Cultural Policy Studies > Centre for Cultural Policy Studies
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Optimism, Cultural policy
Journal or Publication Title:	Cultural Sociology
Publisher:	Sage Publications Ltd.
ISSN:	1749-9755
Date:	July 2011
Volume:	Vol.5
Number:	No.2
Page Range:	pp. 301-320
Identification Number:	10.1177/1749975511401270
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access
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URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/37694