The Blame Business
The Uses and Misuses of Accountability
Stephen FinemanThe Blame Business takes us on a fascinating journey through the landscape of blame, focusing on its roots and enduring manifestations, from ancient witch-hunts to today’s scapegoating and stigmatization; from righteous anger to blame cultures.
Blame infuses society in myriad ways. At its worst it sours and destabilizes relationships, dividing lovers, co-workers, communities and nations. In the hands of skilled propagandists blame is a potent tool for persecution; in the hands of the media it is a vehicle for creating social unease. Yet blame also safeguards moral order and legal culpability. Blame is thus both destructive and necessary.
The Blame Business takes us on a fascinating journey through the landscape of blame, from ancient witch-hunts to today’s scapegoating and stigmatization, and from righteous anger to blame cultures. Stephen Fineman delves behind the scenes of public and private organizations infected with blame and profiles the people who try to hold them to account, examing the vexed issue of public accountability as politicians and corporate leaders play their ‘blame games’.
What are the limits of remorse and forgiveness? Is restorative justice the answer? This absorbing book deepens our understanding of blame and how it shapes all of our lives.
The Blame Business takes us on a fascinating journey through the landscape of blame, focusing on its roots and enduring manifestations, from ancient witch-hunts to today’s scapegoating and stigmatization; from righteous anger to blame cultures.
Blame infuses society in myriad ways. At its worst it sours and destabilizes relationships, dividing lovers, co-workers, communities and nations. In the hands of skilled propagandists blame is a potent tool for persecution; in the hands of the media it is a vehicle for creating social unease. Yet blame also safeguards moral order and legal culpability. Blame is thus both destructive and necessary.
The Blame Business takes us on a fascinating journey through the landscape of blame, from ancient witch-hunts to today’s scapegoating and stigmatization, and from righteous anger to blame cultures. Stephen Fineman delves behind the scenes of public and private organizations infected with blame and profiles the people who try to hold them to account, examing the vexed issue of public accountability as politicians and corporate leaders play their ‘blame games’.
What are the limits of remorse and forgiveness? Is restorative justice the answer? This absorbing book deepens our understanding of blame and how it shapes all of our lives.
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The Blame Business unsettles the reader with a number of very disconcerting questions and comes up with some even more disturbing answers. Ours has become a society that thirsts for blame, breathes blame and is blinded by blame. It is little wonder that it has turned blame into a flourishing business. But at what cost? This is a book that makes us look at blame with fresh eyes.
'Professor Yiannis Gabriel, School of Management, University of Bath
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Readers will come to understand blame more profoundly gaining deeper and richer insights about what it means to individuals to blame and to be blamed.
'Professor Cynthia Hardy, University of Melbourne, Australia
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Blaming the other makes us feel good. It absolves us from responsibility. “How much are we really in control?” asks Fineman in this erudite and thoughtful book. To prevent Salem-type witch-hunts and their modern equivalents, we need institutions and culture to hard-wire just ways of apologising, learning and restoring. A big task, beautifully outlined here.
'Professor Tim Lang, City University London
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The Blame Business is a must read. It brings fresh insights into complex issues.
'Suzanne Derok, author of Rejuvency BodyHealth and Director Executive Talent Consulting
Introduction
1. Why Do We Blame?
2. Panics Old and New
3. Blame Cultures
4. Blaming the Organization
5. The Empires Strike Back
6. Blame Government
7. I’m Sorry
8. From Blame to Restoration
A Final Thought: The Trouble with Blame
References
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Index
Stephen Fineman is Professor Emeritus in the School of Management, University of Bath. His previous books include The Blame Business (Reaktion Books, 2015), Work: A Very Short Introduction (2012), Organizing Age (2011) and Understanding Emotion at Work (2003).
