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Moral outrage is one of the most compelling, complex, and powerful emotional responses. It is the affective currency that drives collective action in a democracy, where it can rally constituents, incentivize legislation, affect how we vote, and catalyze individual anger into righteous protests or mob rule. In recent years, outrage has bolstered extremism and political polarization, and it spurred thousands of self-prescribed "patriots" to storm the U.S. capitol. But it also gave birth to new social justice groups such as Black Lives Matter and March for Our Lives, and what began as an outraged tweet ultimately grew into the global #MeToo movement.
This book offers the first interdisciplinary study of the myriad ways moral outrage is articulated, invoked, and mediated in contemporary U.S. society, from feminist and indigenous politics, climate activism, and school curriculum debates, to book banning, alt-right rhetoric, literature and entertainment venues. Setting its focus on the social dynamics and cultural effects of collective outrage, these timely essays underscore its vital function as a galvanizing force in identity politics, social change, policymaking and civic engagement.
List of contents
Table of ContentsPreface: Letting It
Myra Mendible
Introduction: The Fickle Morality of Outrage
Myra Mendible
Section I: Philosophy, Politics and Public Policy
Hell Hath No Fury: Enraged and Enraging Women and the Fight for Proportional Representation
Bonnie Stabile
Rational Rage? Reclaiming Pathos from the Alt-Right
Landon Frim
Pedagogy of the Privileged: Moral Outrage and the Denial of History
Ron Scapp
Hardening of the Heart: The Settler Colonial Politics of Mediated Outrage
Kaylen J. James
Outraged by Climate Change? Eco-Anger and the Collective Movement for Climate Action
Samantha K. Stanley
Section II: Representation, Identity and Performance
Human Rights and Banned Books: Art Spiegelman's Maus in an Era of Rising Antisemitism and White Nationalism
Alaina Kaus
No Inspection, No Outrage: Shifting Moral Cartographies in Edwidge Danticat's "Without Inspection"
Delphine Gras
"Their Wal-Mart polyester pants smell like tamales": Chica Lit and the Neoliberal Politics of Latinx Social Mobility
Tace Hedrick
Drag Queen Story Hour and the Politics of Religious Outrage
Françoise Coste
Outrageous! Musings on Subversive Humor and Play Activism in The Red Hat Reader
Jenna Ann Altomonte, with artist Todd M. Rowan
No "singing about butts in Spanish": American Outrage and Latina Performance at the 2020 Super Bowl
Frances Negrón-Muntaner
About the Contributors
Index
About the author
Myra Mendible is a professor and co-founder of the English program at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, where she teaches courses in comparative literatures, critical theory, and cultural studies. Her articles have appeared in numerous national and international journals and books, and she is the editor of three previous essay collections and the author of a monograph.
