{"product_id":"upward-mobility-and-the-common-bruce-robbins-9780691146638","title":"Upward Mobility and the Common Good: Toward a Literary History of the Welfare State","description":"\u003cp\u003eWe think we know what upward mobility stories are about--virtuous striving justly rewarded, or unprincipled social climbing regrettably unpunished. Either way, these stories seem obviously concerned with the self-making of self-reliant individuals rather than with any collective interest. In \u003ci\u003eUpward Mobility and the Common Good\u003c\/i\u003e, Bruce Robbins completely overturns these assumptions to expose a hidden tradition of erotic social interdependence at the heart of the literary canon. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Reinterpreting novels by figures such as Balzac, Stendhal, Charlotte Bront , Dickens, Dreiser, Wells, Doctorow, and Ishiguro, along with a number of films, Robbins shows how deeply the material and erotic desires of upwardly mobile characters are intertwined with the aid they receive from some sort of benefactor or mentor. In his view, Hannibal Lecter of \u003ci\u003eThe Silence of the Lambs\u003c\/i\u003e becomes a key figure of social mobility in our time. Robbins argues that passionate and ambiguous relationships (like that between Lecter and Clarice Starling) carry the upward mobility story far from anyone's simple self-interest, whether the protagonist's or the mentor's. Robbins concludes that upward mobility stories have paradoxically helped American and European society make the transition from an ethic of individual responsibility to one of collective accountability, a shift that made the welfare state possible, but that also helps account for society's fascination with cases of sexual abuse and harassment by figures of authority.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Bruce Robbins\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0691146632\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780691146638\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Princeton University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 01\/10\/2010\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 328\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.01lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.21h x 6.14w x 0.68d","brand":"Bruce Robbins","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44120043028735,"sku":"9780691146638","price":42.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_bf692b61-b680-4939-9129-9fc75b6fbfd6.jpg?v=1687412262","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/upward-mobility-and-the-common-bruce-robbins-9780691146638","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}