SHAME

A study of how an overdose of shaming and corresponding shamelessness has made reasoned debate impossible.

You should be ashamed of yourself. In today's polarized, overheated political environment, it has become the go-to attack for one’s enemies. But what does it mean, and what role does shame play in modern society? Keen, a professor of conflict studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science, delves into these issues. He differentiates shame from guilt, noting that guilt relates to a particular action, while shame makes the person question their own worth. In this sense, shame is much more damaging and internalized, and it can generate deep-seated psychological problems. Keen sees shame as essentially a social construct, arising when fundamental rules or norms are broken. Shame can have a positive side if it acts as a spur to a reconsideration and improvement of one's life, but in many cases, it can eat away at a person for decades. The author is well versed in the subject matter, but some of the chapters don’t connect to his theme. He makes his intense dislike of Donald Trump abundantly clear. While it’s undeniable that Trump has demonstrated shamelessness many times during his life, these passages feel more like polemic than academic analysis. There are plenty of examples of shamelessness on the left of the spectrum that could have balanced his account. In fact, Keen admits that trying to shame someone often turns into a counterproductive exercise, with the target displaying the attacks as a sign of standing up to enemies. The author claims that he seeks "to hold up this murky object of shame to the light.” It’s a worthy objective, but the book would have been more effective with greater discipline and less hyperbole.

Keen synthesizes a wealth of research to explore the dynamics of shame, but a lack of focus leads to mixed results.