The Therapeutic State

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The Therapeutic State is written by James L. Nolan Jr. and published by NYU Press. It's available with International Standard Book Number or ISBN identification 0814757901 (ISBN 10) and 9780814757901 (ISBN 13).

An analysis of the commingling of the therapeutic and political cultures in America. Nolan (anthropology and sociology, Williams College) supplies his background by looking at trends such as the emotivist ethic, the pathologization of human behavior, the rise of a new priestly class, and the legitimization of the state. He then looks specifically at emotionally and psychologically based personal injury cases, public education from the colonial period through the progressive era to what he calls "therapeutic education," welfare policy, and presidential election debates from Lincoln-Douglas through Clinton-Bush-Perot. Nolan concludes with an examination of the "therapeutic state" itself, discussing therapeutic utilitarianism, postmodernism, and coercion. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR