Who Is My Neighbor?

James A. Vela-McConnell is Associate Professor of Sociology at Augsburg College. He is one of the authors of What's Left? Radical Politics in the Postcommunist Era.

• List of Figures List of Tables Foreword Acknowledgments 1. A Society of Strangers 2. Roots of Social Affinity 3. The Construction of Social Issues, Part I: Compartmentalizing the Self and Society 4. The Construction of Social Issues, Part II: Breaking the Boundaries Between Self and Other 5. The "Other Side of Silence": The Construction of Social Consciousness 6. A "Sentimenal Journey": Emotions, Role-taking, and Empathy 7. A Call to Action: Social Activism and Social Affinity 8. From "Compartmentalizing" to "Breaking the Boundaries": Moving Along the Continuum of Social Affinity 9. Becoming "Fully Human": Social Affinity in a Modern World Appendix A: The Empirical Approach to Social Affinity Appendix B. Transcript of a Commercial for the Christian Children's Fund Appendix C. Social Issues Frames Notes References Index

"Bold in conception, breathtaking because of the range of writing it draws together, scrupulously careful in execution, and elegantly parsimonious in its explanation, Professor Vela-McConnell has written a book that is at once deeply satisfying intellectually and hugely valuable to anyone interested in linking theory to public policy. All whose political and moral sensibilities lie in the direction of maximizing a sense of neighborliness— in the immediate social context of our lives, within the boundaries of the United States, and in our increasingly global village— should read this book.— from the Foreword by David Karp