Preface Living a Lie The Significance of Preference Falsification Private and Public Preferences Private Opinion, Public Opinion The Dynamics of Public Opinion Institutional Sources of Preference Falsification Inhibiting Change Collective Conservatism The Obstinacy of Communism The Ominous Perseverance of the Caste System The Unwanted Spread of Affirmative Action Distorting Knowledge Public Discourse and Private Knowledge The Unthinkable and the Unthought The Caste Ethic of Submission The Blind Spots of Communism The Unfading Specter of White Racism Generating Surprise Unforeseen Political Revolutions The Fall of Communism and Other Sudden Overturns The Hidden Complexities of Social Evolution From Slavery to Affirmative Action Preference Falsification and Social Analysis Notes Index
Kuran is the leading pioneer in examining the harsh and the subtle ways in which we are induced to deceive our public, our acquaintances, and eventyally ourselves about the issues that matter most in our lives or in our careers. His insight is always persuasive, sometimes stunning. A very careful book. -- Thomas C. Schelling, University of Maryland at College Park This fascinating book analyzes a topic almost never considered by economists, how social pressures modify choices among publicly visible actions. In particular, expressed "public opinion" may be unrepresentative of actual private beliefs, so a minor shock can easily set a bandwagon in motion. Thus political and social equilibria are far more fragile than is usually believed. In fact, almost all great revolutions have been more or less total surprises. The author's applications of the model--to the caste system in India, to the downfall of communism, and (unexpectedly!) to the affirmative action juggernaut in the United States--are gripping, insightful, and (with regard to the last issue) courageous. -- Jack Hirshleifer, University of California, Los Angeles Timur Kuran explores the devastating consequences to political discourses that derive from the simple unwillingness of intelligent individuals to say publicly what they believe privately. The United States may have constitutional guarantees for freedom of speech that were nowhere to be found in communist societies. But the eerie parallels that Kuran draws between the persistence of communism in Eastern Europe and the persistence of affirmative action at home should give even skeptical readers pause about the ability of our legal institutions to promote candid discussion of the major political issues of our times. -- Richard A. Epstein, University of Chicago
Timur Kuran is Professor of Economics and Political Science and Gorter Family Professor of Islamic Studies at Duke University.
How can societies experience such dramatic reversals [as the end of
apartheid in South Africa, widespread smoking bans and Republican
control of Congress] in such short periods? In his inventive and
sometimes astonishing book, Timur Kuran offers an answer--one that
bears not just on revolutionary movements, but also on feminism,
conformity, cognitive dissonance, the moral majority, 'outing'
homosexuals, rationality, hate speech codes, Gorbachev, hippies and
the caste system (all of which make prominent appearances in these
pages)...Much of the interest of Kuran's book is owed to his
insistence, unusual and refreshing among economists (of whom he is
one), that people's choices, and even their desires, are not given
and fixed, but are a function of social and psychological
conditions, above all pressures imposed by other people...Kuran's
book is a terrific success.
*New Republic*
A splendid book. It tackles a long list of interesting and
important questions that have been discussed at length, and largely
unsuccessfully, by scholars from each of the social sciences. The
narrow rational choice model simply cannot answer many of these
questions. Psychological theories by themselves cannot even address
many of them. And sociological theories that take the group as the
unit of analysis have made little progress. Kuran patiently and
intelligently blends the insights of these disciplines into a
behavioral model that moves the discussion forward on many
fronts.
*Journal of Economic Literature*
From the caste system of India, to communism's rise and fall, to
the continuing controversy over affirmative action, Timur Kuran's
new theory of social evolution is as provocative as it is
ambitious. Merging insights from many disciplines, Private Truths,
Public Lies seeks to show how 'preference falsification' shapes
social action, biases knowledge, inhibits change, and (from time to
time) unleashes revolution...An excellent book that can be read by
scholars of all disciplines. Its interdisciplinary insights
illuminate a raft of social, political, and economic phenomena.
*Journal of Economic History*
Economist Timur Kuran has written a fascinating study of how even
formally 'free' citizens can be socially pressured into 'living a
lie,' publicly justifying beliefs and practices that they privately
reject, even abhor.
*National Review*
The core idea of this stimulating book is simple to grasp: Social
factors, the nature of which is variable with the circumstances,
can have the effect that people falsify their private preferences
when they have to express them publicly.
*Contemporary Sociology*
[Kuran's] arguments are elegantly made and the lengthy discussions
of the applications of the basic ideas are well researched and
suffiently detailed to be of considerable interest in their own
right...This is a thoughtful, imaginative, and stimulating book
which deserves a wide audience.
*Economic Journal*
Timur Kuran takes us on a grand journey through world history, from
the creation of the Indian caste system to present-day racial
quotas in the United States. The journey is guided by the search
for the social consequences of a phenomenon that Kuran argues is
all-pervasive: preference falsification...Kuran's book opens
important new perspectives for the analysis of both individual
choice and social change.
*Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (Tübingen,
Germany)*
Few recent contributions to the literature of social science open
so many windows. This engagingly written book carries its learning
and sophistication lightly.
*Independent Review: A Journal of Political Economy*
A fascinating study in social and political psychology and public
opinion...For those who stress that war, violence and peace start
in the minds of men, this is certainly an important work.
*Peace Research*
A compelling theoretical analysis of how contextual structures of
power influence an individual to conform to public sentiment.
Combining perspectives of economics, psychology, and sociology, the
author provides countless insights into the process whereby
individuals repress their true opinions because of possible censure
or admonition from those representing the prevailing
sentiment...Kuran's argument has crucial implications for social
theory...Highly recommended for its thorough and insightful
analysis.
*Choice*
[E]normously subtle...[Kuran's] exposition of 'preference
falsification' is the most original work of social science I have
read for many a long year. The term and concept have innumerable
applications and deserve to enter the language...The conclusion
Kuran reaches is a powerful one which is at odds with most social
science and indeed everyday thought about our ability to understand
or forecast social change...The text is entirely lucid and the
theme is of the utmost importance.
*Quadrant (Australian Review of Ideas)*
Kuran argues that agents choose 'public preferences' which are
contrary to their 'private preferences' in order to attain
'reputational utility.' Such 'preference falsification' pushes, in
turn, ideas away from private consciousness, originating 'knowledge
falsification' (i.e., indoctrination). Kuran's book is well-argued,
never dull, and studded with diverse anecdotes. It is destined to
become a classic, providing a methodological individualistic
alternative to Karl Marx's theory of ideology...Academics as well
as educated persons will come back after reading the book more
enriched on how to understand our complex world.
*Southern Economic Journal*
Kuran is the leading pioneer in examining the harsh and the subtle
ways in which we are induced to deceive our public, our
acquaintances, and eventyally ourselves about the issues that
matter most in our lives or in our careers. His insight is always
persuasive, sometimes stunning. A very careful book.
*Thomas C. Schelling, University of Maryland at College Park*
This fascinating book analyzes a topic almost never considered by
economists, how social pressures modify choices among publicly
visible actions. In particular, expressed "public opinion" may be
unrepresentative of actual private beliefs, so a minor shock can
easily set a bandwagon in motion. Thus political and social
equilibria are far more fragile than is usually believed. In fact,
almost all great revolutions have been more or less total
surprises. The author's applications of the model--to the caste
system in India, to the downfall of communism, and (unexpectedly!)
to the affirmative action juggernaut in the United States--are
gripping, insightful, and (with regard to the last issue)
courageous.
*Jack Hirshleifer, University of California, Los Angeles*
Timur Kuran explores the devastating consequences to political
discourses that derive from the simple unwillingness of intelligent
individuals to say publicly what they believe privately. The United
States may have constitutional guarantees for freedom of speech
that were nowhere to be found in communist societies. But the eerie
parallels that Kuran draws between the persistence of communism in
Eastern Europe and the persistence of affirmative action at home
should give even skeptical readers pause about the ability of our
legal institutions to promote candid discussion of the major
political issues of our times.
*Richard A. Epstein, University of Chicago*
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