Customer Reviews

The Global Grapevine: Why Rumors of Terrorism, Immigration, and Trade Matter

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The subtitle of the book is why rumors of terrorism, immigration and trade matter. Why they matter is what makes this book so compelling. Rumors have led to actions, our authors tell us as they explore the historical threads of current legends. And those actions have not always been pretty, which is why it is important to both recognize rumors as such when we hear or read them and turn on our critical thinking caps. Among other things, the book provides a detailed account of turmoil in Hazleton, Pennsylvania when an influx of Latino migrants moved there attracted by jobs at a new meatpacking plant. Their large numbers began to change the character of the town, fueling rumors that set old townspeople against new, inspired the establishment of English only laws, and put the mayor of this small city in the national spotlight. In another chapter we learn how rumors related to the global trafficking of body parts have become widespread in poorer, less developed countries and so widely believed by some that they've become actionable. Unwitting tourists from wealthy countries have found themselves chased and attacked by protective residents after having innocently shown affectionate interest in the indigenous children. Residents of big, sophisticated cities are not immune to falling prey to rumors either as is described in recounting some of the rumors the attack on the World Trade Center spawned and the conspiracy theories that followed. The authors do more than recount these events, they provide the background necessary to understand why these and other rumors are believed.