A Nation of Meddlers

There was a time when the phrase It’s none of your business meant something. Not anymore. A boorish and persistent army of meddlers, equipped with righteous indignation and a formidable array of theories and technologies, has made almost everyone’s business its own. Meddling in the lives of others is now the republic’s most visible obsession. From national crusades against bad habits such as drinking, smoking, and gambling to the efforts of a group in Woodbury, Minnesota, to create a fragrance-free work environment, Americans are meddling into each others lives as never before. Often masquerading as social concern or community involvement, the contemporary meddlers intervene in the name of most everything: health, safety, the commonweal, God, and for the sake of the children. Working within the symbolic interactionist tradition of cultural analysis and criticism, Charles Edgley and Dennis Brissett analyse this emergent phenomenon with insightful and provocative descriptions about how we came to be this way, why meddling is so appealing, and how meddling is packaged and marketed. Their conclusion offers wise and sometimes witty cautions about the proper relationship between the individual and society.