Manifesto for Silence

Confronting the Politics and Culture of Noise

Stuart Sim

This book makes an urgent demand for silence. The ability to think, to reflect, and to create are all highly dependent on regular access to silence. Yet in today's noisy, 24/7 society silence and quiet are under threat. And the business world only makes this worse with cynical marketing strategies abusing the power of noise: ever-diminishing oases of calm are hard to find.Stuart Sim argues that we need more, not less, silence. He explains why silence matters, where it matters - in our environment, in religion, philosophy, the arts, literature and science - and why the human race will suffer if we do not make space for it. The confrontation between the politics of noise and the politics of silence affects all of us profoundly: we cannot stay neutral on this issue.Key Features:*From noisy neighbours to ASBOs and MTV via the forest and the local library: noise versus silence is one of the main cultural conflicts of our time.*Provides a new and provocative take on the marketing strategies of the business world.*Demonstrates why and where silence matters in our lives, and why we should protect it.*Written by a hugely experienced author, Manifesto for Silence is a pleasure to read.

Table of contents

• COVER
• COPYRIGHT
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction: The Virtues of Silence: The Politics of Silence
• Part I The Politics and Culture of Noise
• 1 The Science and Technology of Silence
• 2 Marketing Noise
• 3 The Assault against Silence and Why Silence Matters
• Part II The Virtues of Silence
• 4 Where Silence Matters: Religion
• 5 Where Silence Matters: Philosophy
• 6 The Aesthetics of Silence
• 7 Where Silence Matters: The Arts
• 8 Where Silence Matters: Literature
• 9 Where Silence Matters: Language and Speech
• Conclusion: Campaigning for Silence
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index