"Bully Nation is absolutely terrific, an important, powerful and timely book that should be read by academic and public audiences alike. The authors have done a remarkable job of taking the topical social problem of bullying, which has received a great deal of attention over the past decade, and extrapolating it to economic, political, corporate and militaristic bullying. We come to understand that bullying isn’t just for the schoolyard, it’s a socio-pathology woven throughout our culture and guiding much of the way that the political economy is run. Their illuminating analysis illustrates how corporations and governments bully not only citizens—the 99%—but also the planet, and with reckless abandon. The consequences are potentially dire—for our culture, for the middle class, for the nation’s and world’s poor, and for the survival of the planet. Without question, this is a book that will have wide appeal to academics, students, and public audiences. I imagine using this book in my own courses and am already anticipating with great excitement the important discussion that will be opened with my students as they grapple with the bully nation, and with the most important issues facing their generation."—Jonathan White, author of Sociologists in Action: Sociology, Social Change, and Social Justice
"Derber and Magrass force us to rethink our concept of bullying. Moving beyond the relatively limited focus on the psychological paradigm and interactions among children, they instead situate the process in a broader institutional context and relationships among adults. Their creative and expert treatment of bullying brings in the economy, the military, dominant political organizations, and indeed global inequalities as well. Their analysis of ‘structural bullying’ fulfills C. Wright Mills’s call for a sociological imagination that links personal problems to our social world. Their contribution offers new ideas, not only on the concept and sources of the behavior, but also on the direction where more humane and effective solutions will be found."—Paul Joseph, editor of The Many Faces of War: A Social Science Encyclopedia
"A welcome departure from the popular habit of reducing distasteful behavior to family pathologies or genetic dispositions, Bully Nation is an important example of how intelligent social science can help heal the world. If bullying is rooted in history and structured by institutions, then citizen action can do something about it." —John Ehrenberg, author of Civil Society: The Critical History of an Idea
"Clear and compelling. Its case for shifting our focus from individual schoolyard bullies to power imbalances in American society is badly needed in current discussions of bullying. A brilliant example of the sociological imagination at work."—Daniel Geary, author of Beyond Civil Rights: The Moynihan Report and Its Legacy
"A canny and sobering look at bullying behavior and how it permeates our nation’s major institutions. When children do it, we abhor it. When our leaders do it, we usually applaud it. The authors remind us."—Oliver Stone
"This thoughtful study expertly dissects the ‘bullying scourge’ that poisons lives and society, exposing its roots in the institutional structure of a ‘militaristic capitalist culture’ that it reflects and nurtures, while also revealing the encouraging reactions that may offer cures for the malady and the factors that engender it."—Noam Chomsky
"Bully Nation is the most comprehensive analysis of bullying yet published. It is a brilliant book that refuses to define bullying as merely a psychological concept. Instead, it addresses in great detail the interplay of bullying as having its roots in a range of historical, economic, political, and social conditions. In this instance, bullying functions as a metaphor to connect the private the public, specific acts of violence to larger forms of systemic violence. Rather than treat bullying as part of a rite of passage confined to the often difficult process of growing up, Derber and Magrass treat it as a systemic force that produces values, social relations, structures, and collective identities steeped in violence and aggression. This is a powerful and compelling book that addresses one of the most important social problems of our time. It should be read by all educators, parents, and anyone else interested in a world free of aggression and violence. Bully Nation deserves widespread attention."—Henry Giroux, author of Zombie Politics and Culture in the Age of Casino Capitalism
