The Global Grapevine: Why Rumors of Terrorism, Immigration, and Trade Matter Book

This review requires a preface: I am thoroughly aware that a lot of my perception of this book is, ironically, shaped by cultural premises. For one thing, American standards of scholarship are different - it would be unusual to see an American scholarly book with no list of references or index. A text lacking these acknowledgements of other research reads, to me, more like an opinion piece than true nonfiction.

With that said… fundamentally, I found there to be a kind of irony here. On the one hand, I'm fairly convinced that Carroll wrote this in good faith; that she believes in the power of cultural analysis to resolve misunderstandings; and that she's earnest in her desire to understand different perspectives. On the other hand, there's very little indication in this book that she actually sought out American viewpoints, and her analysis ended up feeling one-sided and shallow.

(Full review on Kogi Reviews)