{"title":"Herbert J Gans","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"democracy-and-the-news-book-herbert-j-gans-9780195151329","title":"Democracy and the News","description":"American democracy was founded on the belief that ultimate power rests in an informed citizenry. But that belief appears naive in an era when private corporations manipulate public policy and the individual citizen is dwarfed by agencies, special interest groups, and other organisations that have a firm grasp on real political and economic power. In Democracy and the News, one of America's most astute social critics explores the crucial link between a weakened news media and weakened democracy. Building on his 1979 classic media critique Deciding What's News, Herbert Gans shows how, with the advent of cable news networks, the internet, and a proliferation of other sources, the role of contemporary journalists has shrunk, as the audience for news moves away from major print and electronic media to smaller and smaller outlets. Gans argues that journalism also suffers from assembly-line modes of production, with the major product being publicity for the president and other top political officials, the very people citizens most distrust. In such an environment, investigative journalism-which could offer citizens the information they need to make intelligent critical choices on a range of difficult issues-cannot flourish. But Gans makes several incisive suggestions about what the news media can do to recapture its role in American society and what political and economic changes might move us closer to a true citizen's democracy. Touching on questions of critical national importance, Democracy and the News sheds new light on the vital importance of a healthy news media for a healthy democracy.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49580863619345,"sku":"GOR005112947","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50345434153233,"sku":"CIN0195151321G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0195151321.jpg?v=1751426857"},{"product_id":"levittowners-book-herbert-j-gans-9780231055710","title":"The Levittowners","description":"In 1955 Levitt and Sons, Inc. purchased almost all of Willingboro Township, New Jersey, a sparsely settled agricultural area seventeen miles from Philadelphia. They would build 1,200 homes; three basic house types would be erected; ten or twelve neighborhoods would emerge. This suburban experiment was the basis for one of the most famous case studies in urban sociology, Herbert J. Gans' The Levittowners. This classic work examines its subject from numerous angles: the beginnings of group life, the founding of churches, the emergence of party politics, family and individual adaptation, and other dimensions of the suburban experience. In a new introduction, written especially for this edition, Gans reflects on the past twenty years and their effect on the Levittown community.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49619509444881,"sku":"GOR013721936","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49974992175377,"sku":"CIN0231055714G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0231055714.jpg?v=1751258368"},{"product_id":"people-plans-and-policies-book-herbert-j-gans-9780231074032","title":"People, Plans, and Policies","description":"The primary theme of this collection of essays is that the cities' basic problems are poverty and racism, and until these concerns are addressed by bringing about racial equality, creating jobs, and instituting other reforms, the generally low quality of urban life will persist.  Gans argues that the individual must work to alter society. He believes that not only must parents have jobs to improve their children's school performance, but that the country needs a modernized \"New Deal,\" a more labor-intensive economy, and a thirty-two hour work week to achieve full employment. Other controversial ideas presented in this book include Gans's opposition to the whole notion of an underclass, which he feels is the latest way for the nonpoor to unjustly label the poor as undeserving. He also believes that poverty continues to plague society because it is often useful to the nonpoor. He is critical of architecture that aims above all to be aesthetic or to make philosophical statements, is doubtful that planners can or should try to reform our social or personal lives, and thinks we should concentrate on achieving individual public policies until we learn how to properly plan as a society.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49626336887057,"sku":"GOR013511410","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0231074034.jpg?v=1751388999"},{"product_id":"war-against-the-poor-book-herbert-j-gans-9780465019915","title":"The War Against The Poor","description":"In his withering dissection of the origins and misuse of the term  underclass\" to stereotype and stigmatize the poor, Herbert J. Gans shows how this ubiquitous label has relegated a wide variety of people,welfare recipients, the working poor, teenage mothers, drug addicts, the homeless, and others,to a single condemned class, feared and despised by the rest of society. Probing the deep psychological, social, and political reasons why Americans seek to indict millions of poor citizens as  undeserving,\" Gans calls for a cease-fire in the undeclared war against the poor. He concludes with a set of innovative, job-centreed policy proposals and a multifaceted educational plan to stop the endless flow of new recruits into America's untouchable caste.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49708611797265,"sku":"CIN0465019919G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50061773996305,"sku":"GOR005207313","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":50351156658449,"sku":"CIN0465019919A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51692865749265,"sku":"CIN0465019919VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52146638586129,"sku":"NLS9780465019915","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0465019919.jpg?v=1751166564"},{"product_id":"deciding-what-s-news-book-herbert-j-gans-9780810122376","title":"Deciding What's News","description":"For ten years, Herbert J. Gans spent considerable time in four major television and magazine newsrooms, observing and talking to the journalists who choose the national news stories that inform America about itself. Writing during the golden age of journalism. Gans included such headline events as the War on Poverty, the Vietnam War and the protests against it, urban ghetto disorders, the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, and Watergate. He was interested in the values, professional standards, and the external pressures that shaped journalists' judgments. Deciding What's News has become a classic. A new preface outlines the major changes that have taken place in the news media since Gans first wrote the book, but it also suggests that the basics of news judgment and the structures of news organizations have changed little Gans's book is still the most comprehensive sociological account of some of the country's most prominent national news media. The book received the 1979 Theatre Library Association Award and the 1980 Book Award of the National Association of Educational Broadcasters. This is the first work to be published under the Medill School of Journalism's \"\"Visions of the American Press\"\" imprint, a new journalism history series featuring both original volumes and reprints of important classics.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49926694404369,"sku":"CIN0810122375G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51330016215313,"sku":"CIN0810122375VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0810122375.jpg?v=1763482412"},{"product_id":"popular-culture-and-high-culture-book-herbert-j-gans-9780465026098","title":"Popular Culture and High Culture","description":"Is  NYPD Blue  a less valid form of artistic expression than a Shakespearean drama? Who is to judge and by what standards?In this new edition of Herbert Gans's brilliantly conceived and clearly argued landmark work, he builds on his critique of the universality of high cultural standards. While conceding that popular and high culture have converged to some extent over the twenty-five years since he wrote the book, Gans holds that the choices of typical Ivy League graduates, not to mention Ph.D.'s in literature, are still very different from those of high school graduates, as are the movie houses, television channels, museums, and other cultural institutions they frequent.This new edition benefits greatly from Gans's discussion of the \"politicization\" of culture over the last quarter-century.  Popular Culture and High Culture  is a must read for anyone interested in the vicissitudes of taste in American society.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50009767674129,"sku":"GOR004016250","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50190289895697,"sku":"CIN0465026095G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":50355135578385,"sku":"CIN0465026095A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50762192191761,"sku":"CIN0465026095VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52333309591825,"sku":"NLS9780465026098","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0465026095.jpg?v=1751103666"},{"product_id":"deciding-what-s-news-a-study-of-cbs-evening-news-nbc-nightly-news-newsweek-and-t-book-herbert-gans-9780394503592","title":"Deciding what's news: A study of CBS evening news, NBC nightly news, Newsweek, and Time","description":"For ten years, Herbert J. 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Gans's book is still the most comprehensive sociological account of some of the country's most prominent national news media. The book received the 1979 Theatre Library Association Award and the 1980 Book Award of the National Association of Educational Broadcasters. This is the first work to be published under the Medill School of Journalism's Visions of the American Press imprint, a new journalism history series featuring both original volumes and reprints of important classics.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50159193325841,"sku":"CIN0394503597G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50580146553105,"sku":"CIN0394503597VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51070620729617,"sku":"GOR014168425","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51115033100561,"sku":"GOR014179062","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":52621371113745,"sku":"CIN0394503597A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53576161984785,"sku":"GOR006573126","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0394503597.jpg?v=1751134569"},{"product_id":"middle-american-individualism-book-herbert-j-gans-9780029112519","title":"Middle American Individualism","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":50342496993553,"sku":"CIN0029112516A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":52101983731985,"sku":"CIN0029112516G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0029112516.jpg?v=1750736560"},{"product_id":"levittowners-book-herbert-j-gans-9780231178877","title":"The Levittowners","description":"In 1955, Levitt and Sons purchased most of Willingboro Township, New Jersey and built 11,000 homes. This, their third Levittown, became the site of one of urban sociology's most famous community studies, Herbert J. Gans's The Levittowners. The product of two years of living in Levittown, the work chronicles the invention of a new community and its major institutions, the beginnings of social and political life, and the former city residents' adaptation to suburban living. Gans uses his research to reject the charge that suburbs are sterile and pathological. First published in 1967, The Levittowners is a classic of participant-observer ethnography that also paints a sensitive portrait of working-class and lower-middle-class life in America. This new edition features a foreword by Harvey Molotch that reflects on Gans's challenges to conventional wisdom.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":50467358998801,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50467360932113,"sku":"CIN0231178875VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0231178875.jpg?v=1750813145"},{"product_id":"urban-villagers-rev-exp-ed-book-herbert-j-gans-9780029112403","title":"Urban Villagers, Rev \u0026 Exp Ed","description":"Hebert Gans’ study of Italian Americans in Boston’s West In is one of the classics of contemporary sociology.  Providing a first-hand account of life in an inner city of contemporary sociology, Urban Villagers is a systematic and sensitive analysis of working-class culture and of the politicians, planners, and other outside professionals who affected it.   This new edition is unique in that while the original text is intact, Gans has added extensive postscripts to the final five chapters and the appendix. Additionally, he updates the study’s findings on American society, adding new material on poverty and inequality.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50480319594769,"sku":"CIN0029112400G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":50998798713105,"sku":"NIN9780029112403","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51686634848529,"sku":"CIN0029112400VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52392039383313,"sku":"GOR010274501","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52401059954961,"sku":"NLS9780029112403","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0029112400.jpg?v=1750811534"},{"product_id":"people-and-plans-book-herbert-j-gans-9780140214550","title":"People and Plans","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51429876597009,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51429876760849,"sku":"GOR003222874","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51683897770257,"sku":"GOR001918472","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0140214550.jpg?v=1751164246"},{"product_id":"making-sense-of-america-book-herbert-j-gans-9780847690411","title":"Making Sense of America","description":"For four decades, Herbert J. Gans has been one of the leading sociologists in the United States. His writing on American communities, culture, and ethnicity have been widely read here and elsewhere, and his incisive analyses of antipoverty policy and other social policies have been influential in many policy analysis offices and government agencies. This new collection of Gans's scholarly and other writings, including excerpts from his most prominent ethnographic books, The Urban Villagers, The Levittowners, and Deciding What's News, will be a thought-provoking resource for social scientists, students, and all those who care about America.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52146336956689,"sku":"NLS9780847690411","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780847690411.jpg?v=1779961814"},{"product_id":"people-plans-and-policies-book-herbert-j-gans-9780231074025","title":"People, Plans, and Policies","description":"The primary theme of this collection of essays is that the cities' basic problems are poverty and racism, and until these concerns are addressed by bringing about racial equality, creating jobs, and instituting other reforms, the generally low quality of urban life will persist.  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He is critical of architecture that aims above all to be aesthetic or to make philosophical statements, is doubtful that planners can or should try to reform our social or personal lives, and thinks we should concentrate on achieving individual public policies until we learn how to properly plan as a society.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52815354069265,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":52815354626321,"sku":"CIN0231074026G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780231074025.jpg?v=1764263467"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-herbert-j-gans.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}