Book review : Religious networks in the Roman empire : the spread of new ideas

Abstract

The Justin Bieber hairstyle continues to make the news. The pop singer’s regular reinterpretations of his locks secure media attention and excite his myriad fans, some of whom dutifully transpose his hairdo onto theirs. Now, for all its triteness, that is a clear and physical manifestation of the spread of new ideas. Anna Collar’s book makes for engrossing reading: in it, she helps us to understand how such ‘memes’ – discrete elements of a culture, or system of behaviour – including more serious ones than hairstyles, get circulated and accepted. Reading her book helps the reader become somewhat more familiar with a basic quandary in social life and mass communication, and a touchstone for the study of social impact and control.