{"product_id":"life-advice-from-below-9789004319578","title":"Life Advice from Below","description":"In \u003ci\u003eLife Advice from Below\u003c\/i\u003e, Eric C. Hendriks offers the first systematic, comparative study of the globalization of American-style self-help culture and the cultural conflicts this creates in different national contexts. The self-help guru is an archetypical American figure associated with individualism, materialism and the American Dream. Nonetheless, the self-help industry is spreading globally, thriving in China and other seemingly unlikely places. Controversy follows in its wake, as the self-help industry, operating outside of formal education and state institutions, outflanks philosophical, religious and political elites who have their own visions of the Good Life. Through a comparison of Germany and China, Hendriks analyzes how the competition between self-help gurus and institutional authorities unfolds under radically different politico-cultural regimes.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“This witty book charms its way through a very serious sociology of the seriously quirky field of self-help books. Read it for its fascinating pop-culture insights and you’ll come away with a deep understanding of contemporary sociological theory. Highly recommended.” - Salvatore Babones, \u003ci\u003eUniversity of Sydney\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“Hendriks’ finding that Germany rather than China is more resistant to self-help gurus offers a powerful corrective to the assumption in much of the globalization literature that the greatest cultural divide is between the Anglo-Western European sphere and the rest of the globe.” - Rodney Benson, \u003ci\u003eNew York University\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Eric C. Hendriks","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48270200733947,"sku":"9789004319578","price":125.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0779\/3917\/9771\/files\/CoreSourceHub_bb0fd6ea-95de-4f0e-8a78-5378355eb500.jpg?v=1773727827","url":"https:\/\/indiepubs.com\/products\/life-advice-from-below-9789004319578","provider":"IndiePubs","version":"1.0","type":"link"}