JACKALL, HIROTA EXPLORE ADVERTISING, ADVOCACY WITH "IMAGE MAKERS"
WILLIAMSTOWN, MASS., Nov. 2, 2000-Robert Jackall, professor of sociology at Williams College, chronicles the rise of advertising and public relations in his new book "Image Makers: Advertising, Public Relations, and the Ethos of Advocacy." The book was co-written with his wife Janice M. Hirota, an independent anthropologist. In it, the pair trace the trajectory from First World War propaganda to today's more self-aware sloganeering.
Jackall and Hirota explore the fashioning of the apparatus of advocacy through the stories of two organizations, the Committee on Public Information, which sold the Great War to the American public and the idea of America to the world, and the Advertising Council, which since the Second World War has been the main coordinator of public service advertising.
They then turn to the career of William Bernbach, the adman's adman, who reinvented advertising and grappled creatively with the profound skepticism of a propaganda-weary mid-century public.
The authors argue that the tools-in-trade and habits of mind of professional "image makers" have migrated into every corner of modern society. Advocacy is now a vocation for many, and American society abounds as well with "technicians in moral outrage," including street-smart impresarios, secular preachers of every stripe, and bombastic talk-radio hosts.
"Image Makers" closes with a discussion of the discernment of representations in a society increasingly characterized by "make-believe worlds" constructed by both professional and vocational advocates. The authors ask: In a world of endlessly shifting patterns of conflicting representations and claims, in what and in whom do people choose to put their trust and why?
Jackall is a sociologist of work, occupations, professions, and large organizations. This book is his first full-length foray into advertising and public relations. His earlier works include "Wild Cowboys: Urban Marauders & the Forces of Order" (1997), a first-hand account of the travails of New York City police detectives and prosecutors on the track of a murderous drug gang; and "Moral Mazes: The World of Corporate Managers" (1988), a study of corporate executives' ethical dilemmas. "Moral Mazes" was named the 1999 Book of the Year by the Social Issues in Management division of the Academy of Management, an annual award given to books judged to have significantly influenced other works in the field over a period of years.
Jackall, Class of 1956 Professor of Sociology and Social Thought, has taught at Williams since 1976. After receiving a B.A. in sociology in 1963 from Fordham University, Jackall earned a Ph.L. in philosophy from Fordham the following year. In 1976, he received his Ph.D. in sociology from the Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science at the New School for Social Research.
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Contact: Jo Procter, college news directorDirect phone line: (413) 597-4279email: [email protected]
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