Goffman Unbound!
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€272.80
"Thomas Scheff demonstrates why Goffman remains such a key figure for social scientists. Goffman may have been cautious about recognizing the role of emotions in social life, but Scheff boldly and creatively shows why the sociological and the psychological are necessarily intertwined. This is certainly a book for all serious analysts of social behaviour." Michael Billig, Nottingham University "Scheff's critical eye is equal to his subject, shrewdly appreciating Goffman's many virtues while also showing where and how Goffman's thinking needs revision and development. This original and provocative book offers a fresh interpretation of Goffman and will become a benchmark for all subsequent commentary." Greg Smith, University of Salford One of the seminal sociologists of the twentieth century, Erving Goffman revolutionized our understanding of the microworld of emotions and relationships. We all live in this world every day of our lives, yet it is virtually invisible to us. Goffman's genius was to recognize and describe this world as no one had before. The book synthesizes prior scholarly commentary on Goffman's work, and includes biographical material from his life, untangling some of the many puzzles in Goffman's work and life. Scheff also proposes ways of filling gaps and false starts. One chapter explores the meaning of the emotion of love, another of hatred. These and other new directions could facilitate the creation of a microsocial science that unveils the emotional/relational world.
Thomas J. Scheff is Professor Emeritus, University of California, Santa Barbara. He is the author of Being Mentally Ill (Aldine, 1999), Microsociology (University of Chicago Press, 1994), Bloody Revenge (Backinprint.com, 2000), Emotions and the Social Bond (Cambridge University Press, 1997), other books, articles, and chapters on social psychology, bonds, emotions, and large scale conflict. His current projects include books on human bonds and on interpersonal communication. He is trying to become a generalist, but it is difficult to overcome bad habits. Still more he would like to be funny, but that seems out of reach. Bernard Phillips was a student of C. Wright Mills. He taught at the Universities of North Carolina, Illinois and Boston.