The Social Life of Achievement

Long and Moore present this volume on narratives of achievement and success, and how they are constructed between achieving individuals and their social contexts. Contributions analyze achievement as mediated and recognized by a variety of communities of different sizes. The first chapter examines the construction of a successful progression through life. Standards of achievement in professional gambling, birdsport, and monastic meditation are explored. A chapter discusses political influence on the achievement psychology of communities. Locally specific narratives are analyzed for private equity traders in the UK, the socially favored goal of cosmopolitanism in Vietnam, and standards of personal responsibility in the suburban US. Two chapters discuss emerging narratives of success for autistic individuals and its influence on parenting and self-image, and the conflicted framing of scholastic achievement for women, especially black women. Annotation c2014 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)

Henrietta L. Moore is Director of the Institute for Global Prosperity, University College London where she is also Chair of Culture, Philosophy and Design. Among her recent books is Still Life: Hopes, Desires and Satisfactions (Polity Press, 2011).