Things Might Go Right: Prospects for Peace and a Better Life in an Age of Globalization and Specialization Book

Freedom of the Press is more than a slogan journalists use when they want to report a juicy scandal. A free press may put butter on your bread, or even help you get the piece of bread.

Nice guys finish last is a saying that formerly had some validity, but it is becoming less true all the time. Nice guys are now more likely to come out on top.

Terrorism will be controlled only when more people in all parts of the world are involved in the search for peace and a better life. New opportunities for them to become involved are now opening up.

These ideas emerge from a sociological analysis of how we get the pleasures and satisfactions nearly everyone in the modern world wants. Increasingly, such expectations can be satisfied only if we cooperate with other people many of whom are very different from ourselves. The complexity of modern societies also requires that more and more people assume specialized roles and that these specialists work together regardless of national, ethnic, religious, or other differences. The future belongs to those who are best at cooperation and conflict resolution.

An amorphous yet hopeful examination of society and how it could work toward a better future. Sociology and journalism professor Davison (Mass Media, 1976) argues that society is structured by overlapping and interconnected "functional groups," which refer to any set of individuals that performs a particular role within society. Davison admits that many of the ideas sketched here cannot be corroborated by empirical research, but he maintains the hope that his work will inspire others to pursue the questions he proposes. His lines of inquiry are certainly thought provoking, and point toward a great body of serious sociological study that should be undertaken. Inspiring premise.
—(Kirkus Discoveries)