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The moral self: class, narcissism and the problem of do-it-yourself moralities

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-19, 03:23 authored by Nicholas HookwayNicholas Hookway
This article is a qualitative exploration of how contemporary morality is understood and constructed using Australian blog and interview data. A key finding is that the bloggers articulate morality as an actively created and autonomous do-it-yourself project that prioritises the subjective authority and authenticity of the self. While the blog stories do lend support to charges of narcissism, this is partly a product of bloggers misidentifying their own evaluative practices. In the interview accounts they tend to describe morality in subjectivist terms – I do what I believe/think/feel is right – but in their blogged accounts, they highlight a relational and responsive morality which attends to the Other and the situation. Further, the article highlights how the bloggers are producing a particular classed model of selfhood and moral reflexivity where they have access to the resources to self-tell as choosing and self-responsible subjects.

History

Publication title

The Sociological Review

Volume

66

Pagination

107-121

ISSN

0038-0261

Department/School

School of Social Sciences

Publisher

Blackwell Publ Ltd

Place of publication

United Kingdom

Rights statement

Copyright 2017 The Authors

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Expanding knowledge in human society

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