Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #625750 in Books
• Published on: 2001-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 144 pages

From Booklist
The media seem always to portray whistleblowers as martyrs or heroes. Alford, though, sees something else. He is the author of What Evil Means to Us (1997) and The Self in Social Theory (1991). He visited a retreat for "stressed-out whistleblowers," sat in on support-group meetings held by whistleblowers, and conducted in-depth interviews with two dozen of them. Alford is concerned with why whistleblowers choose to go public and challenge their organizations, but he is also interested in what they have learned from their experiences. He is fascinated by the costs incurred by the "autonomous individual" who confronts the organization, an entity that Alford says demands obedience, conformity, and loyalty. Instead of noble causes and vindication, Alford finds individuals who become isolated from coworkers, friends, and even family and who often admit that they would not repeat their actions if they had it to do over again. He also examines the political and ethical aspects of whistleblowing by looking at the "political theory of sacrifice" and considering "narcissism moralized." David Rouse
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