Ribbon Culture: Charity, Compassion and Public Awareness

by Sarah E.H. Moore

Overview

This book explores the history, meaning, and sociological implications of awareness campaigns, seeing them as personal displays of compassion in a culture where empathy is a by-word for authenticity. It also highlights how charities use awareness campaigns to reach their audience, and the transformation of charity into a commercial enterprise.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781349361601
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	01/17/2008
Edition description:	1st ed. 2010
Pages:	190
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

SARAH E.H. MOORE is Research Assistant at the Department of Sociology, University of Kent, UK. Her research interests lie in the sociology of compassion, risk culture and health.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements ix

Preface xi

1 Introduction 1

Ribbon culture 1

Scholarly accounts of ribbon wearing 4

Overview of the book 5

Structure of the book 7

2 Ribbon Wearing: Towards a Theoretical Framework 10

Symbolic behaviour 12

Identity 21

Charity and compassion 31

Conclusion 41

3 Flags and Poppies: Charity Tokens of the Early Twentieth Century 43

Flag days 43

The poppy 46

4 Ribbon Histories 51

The yellow ribbon: tradition and sentiment 52

The red AIDS-awareness ribbon: from AIDS activism to fashion accessory 57

The pink breast-cancer awareness ribbon: marketing breast cancer 63

Conclusion 70

5 Symbolic Uses of the Ribbon 73

The ribbon as a symbol of solidarity with homosexuals 74

The ribbon as a resource in community-action campaigns 77

The ribbon as a mourning symbol 81

The ribbon as a symbol of self-awareness 89

‘Showing awareness’ and its connection to other uses of the ribbon 90

The meaning of ‘showing awareness’ 93

6 ‘Showing Awareness’ and the 1960s Counter-culture: Breaking Rules and Finding the Self 100

Breaking rules 102

Finding the self 112

Conclusion 121

7 Worry as a Manifestation of Awareness: The Implications of ‘Thinking Pink’ 123

Worrying about breast cancer 126

Femininity in the breast cancer awareness campaign 133

Conclusion 135

8 The Commercialisation of Charity and the Commodification of Compassion 137

Ribbon wearers' attitudes towards charity 137

Feelings of compassion 141

Conclusion 148

9 Conclusion 150

Appendix: Some Brief Notes on Methodology 158

Notes 164

References 171

Index 187

Editorial Reviews

Joint Winner of the British Sociological Association Philip Abrams Memorial Prize 2009

'This is an easy-to-read book that is well signposted and that offers interesting data to support the key points. It will appeal to many subdisciplines within sociology and I will be adding it to my reading lists for undergraduate students.' - Sue Child, Times Higher Education Supplement

' this is an interesting and well-written book on a topic of current interest, that adds both to the sociological literature on compassion and, in its own way, to that on material culture.' Alan Radley, British Journal of Sociology

'Ribbon Culture analyses in detail the cultural phenomenon of the awareness ribbon (and the related phenomenon of empathy wristbands) and draws some very interesting conclusions, not the least of which is that such adornments, while seeming to express solidarity, may actually end up undermining it.' - Australian Literary Review

'...a brilliant little book...Moore does a great job of exposing the orthodoxy of 'awareness' for what it really is; challenging the sickness of our ribbon culture requires that we think beyond the pink to care about something less selfish instead.' - Spiked Review of Books

'...a fascinating, exceedingly well-researched new book by British scholar Sarah E.H. Moore...We all want to support worthy causes, but after reading Ribbon Culture, you may conclude that discretion looks like the better part of virtue as well as of valor.' - www.veryshortlist.com

'This is a brilliant example of how the sociological imagination helps us understand how culture works. Ribbon Culture forces us to rethink what we know about the act of 'raising awareness'. - Frank Furedi, Professor of Sociology, University of Kent, UK

From the Publisher