Is Shame Necessary?

Guest: Jennifer Jacquet, Ph.D., Professor of Environmental Studies at New York University, Author of “Is Shame Necessary?”  Shame and accountability are Top of Mind today. Sepp Blatter - the embattled and newly-re-elected president of soccer’s international governing body FIFA – made a surprise announcement today that he will step down. Even though he’s spent the last week refusing to do just that and denying that he had anything knowledge of the corruption and bribery that have led to indictments of more than a dozen officials tied to FIFA.  Blatter now says he’ll step down to help FIFA put the scandal behind it. But you could also make the argument that he’s resigning because he’s been shamed into it by public outcry in the press and on social media. We here in the West don’t tend to like the idea of shaming people into things and but there’s no denying its power.  New York University environmental studies professor Jennifer Jacquet thinks we should give shame a chance to solve society’s biggest problems. “Is Shame Necessary?” is the title of her new book.