Just the Facts

"Joel Best has a genuine talent for explaining social phenomena to audiences in a way that is crisp, clear, and convincing. This book is important, and Best excels."—Tim Hallett, coauthor of Group Life: An Invitation to Local Sociology "This is a brilliant analysis of the social construction of facts​. Best enlightens us with his reasonable, practical, and sophisticated approach to understanding what facts really represent and how we should evaluate the veracity of such claims."—Michael Flaherty, coauthor of The Cage of Days: Time and Temporal Experience in Prison Why can’t we seem to agree on facts? In this succinct volume, sociologist Joel Best turns his inimitable eye toward the social construction of what we think is true. He evaluates how facts emerge from our social worlds—including our beliefs, values, tastes, and norms—and how they align with those worlds’ standards. He argues that by developing a sociological perspective toward what we think we know, we can better parse the use of facts and untruths around us. This book examines how facts are created and supported through science, government, law, and journalism, revealing that facts are actually claims. These claims are malleable and can change over time through fact-checking, revision, and sometimes rejection. Best guides us through these processes so that we can question our assumptions and understand why disputes happen in the first place. In a time of increasing social and political divide, Just the Facts urges us to resist defensiveness over our facts and approach disputes in critical new ways.