Product details
- ISBN 9781032161556
- Weight: 440g
- Dimensions: 156 x 234mm
- Publication Date: 21 Apr 2025
- Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
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A Sociology of Awkwardness shows how awkward feelings are the outcome of social interactions going wrong.
Combing insights from cultural sociology and the sociologies of interactions and emotions, this book develops the first comprehensive sociology of awkwardness. It provides an understanding of how people define, express, and experience awkwardness, while locating its causes not within individuals but within social interactions. The book also offers a unique perspective by examining how both time and space contribute to the experience of awkwardness. Additionally, it delves into the various ways people deal with awkward interactions.
A Sociology of Awkwardness introduces a novel theory and typology of awkwardness, drawing from rich empirical data of everyday encounters, work, dating, and self-help. This book will appeal to scholars across the social sciences, particularly those interested in culture, social interactions, and emotions. It will also attract readers seeking to understand awkwardness as a cultural phenomenon, though not as a self-help guide.
Pauwke Berkers is Full Professor of Sociology of Popular Music at Erasmus University Rotterdam. As a music sociologist, he has written widely on social inequalities in popular music in academic journals, such as Gender & Society, Poetics, and Cultural Sociology. His most recent book is Gender Inequality in Metal Music Production (with Julian Schaap, 2018). As a cultural sociologist, his work addresses topics such as authenticity, stigmatization, boundary work and (long silence) awkwardness.
Yosha Wijngaarden is Assistant Professor Media and Creative Industries at Erasmus University Rotterdam. Working at the intersection of sociology, media studies, organization studies, and geography, she has written extensively on work practices and (potentially awkward) social interactions within the creative industries. Her work has been published in academic journals such as Geoforum, Human Relations, and Cultural Trends.
