Silence and Society

"This beautifully written and richly textured sociology of silence, absence, lack, death and social memory will undoubtedly appeal to readers interested in social theory and psychoanalytically informed understandings of subjectivity. Charles Lemert teases out the contradictory interconnections of individualism and socialization with extraordinary delicacy. Silence and Society is intriguing, dazzling, stimulating."

Anthony Elliott, Distinguished Professor of Sociology, University of South Australia, Australia

"Years since the loss of his son from suicide, Charles Lemert continues to direct his critical analysis on death, in particular, on the silence and actions associated with that enigmatic inevitability. By weaving together biography, philosophy, anthropology, and sociology, Lemert expands upon the discussion of death to include the living-our response or lack of response to death, the silence of death-and offers readers thoughtful examples of the role of silence in daily life and society. In doing so, he brings to light what silence says about us. Silence is a window through which clarity may be obtained, or it can be an opportunity lost, or a way of causing pain. With this insightful book, Lemert invites us to contemplate and reevaluate what the ghosts in our lives and in society are communicating. The refusal to listen haunts us and makes our approach to death anything but peaceful."

Nathan Rousseau, Professor of Sociology, Indiana University, USA

"In Silence and Society, Charles Lemert offers a mesmerizing, meandering, erudite, and thought-provoking engagement with a multiplicity of his and our living 'dead.' With a set of sixteen essays, Lemert takes us on a journey through his own biography, the history of social thought from ancient philosophy to our more recently dead but still living thinkers of the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries, and world and national histories mediated largely through the ghostly presence of those theorists who have interpreted our pasts and presents. The essays are a pleasure to read; I will cherish them and undoubtedly return to read them again and again."

Ann Branaman, Professor and Chair of Sociology, Florida Atlantic University, USA