Beautiful Democracy: Aesthetics and Anarchy in a Global Era

by Russ Castronovo

Book Overview

The photographer and reformer Jacob Riis once wrote, "I have seen an armful of daisies keep the peace of a block better than a policeman and his club." Riis was not alone in his belief that beauty could tame urban chaos, but are aesthetic experiences always a social good? Could aesthetics also inspire violent crime, working-class unrest, and racial murder? To answer these questions, Russ Castronovo turns to those who debated claims that art could...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0226096289
• ISBN13: 9780226096285
• Release Date: September 2007
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 1.34 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.6" x 9.1"