Interaction Ritual Chains / Randall Collins.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Collins, Randall, 1941- author.

Series:

Princeton studies in cultural sociology.

Princeton Studies in Cultural Sociology ; 62

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social interaction.

Emotions--Sociological aspects.

Emotions.

Ritualism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xx, 439 pages) : illustrations

Edition:

Course Book

Place of Publication:

Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, [2004]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Sex, smoking, and social stratification are three very different social phenomena. And yet, argues sociologist Randall Collins, they and much else in our social lives are driven by a common force: interaction rituals. Interaction Ritual Chains is a major work of sociological theory that attempts to develop a "radical microsociology." It proposes that successful rituals create symbols of group membership and pump up individuals with emotional energy, while failed rituals drain emotional energy. Each person flows from situation to situation, drawn to those interactions where their cultural capital gives them the best emotional energy payoff. Thinking, too, can be explained by the internalization of conversations within the flow of situations; individual selves are thoroughly and continually social, constructed from the outside in. The first half of Interaction Ritual Chains is based on the classic analyses of Durkheim, Mead, and Goffman and draws on micro-sociological research on conversation, bodily rhythms, emotions, and intellectual creativity. The second half discusses how such activities as sex, smoking, and social stratification are shaped by interaction ritual chains. For example, the book addresses the emotional and symbolic nature of sexual exchanges of all sorts--from hand-holding to masturbation to sexual relationships with prostitutes--while describing the interaction rituals they involve. This book will appeal not only to psychologists, sociologists, and anthropologists, but to those in fields as diverse as human sexuality, religious studies, and literary theory.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

FIGURES

PREFACE

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

PART ONE. Radical Microsociology

Chapter 1. THE PROGRAM OF INTERACTION RITUAL THEORY

Chapter 2. THE MUTUAL-FOCUS / EMOTIONAL-ENTRAINMENT MODEL

Chapter 3. EMOTIONAL ENERGY AND THE TRANSIENT EMOTIONS

Chapter 4. INTERACTION MARKETS AND MATERIAL MARKETS

Chapter 5. INTERNALIZED SYMBOLS AND THE SOCIAL PROCESS OF THINKING

PART TWO. Applications

Chapter 6. A THEORY OF SEXUAL INTERACTION

Chapter 7. SITUATIONAL STRATIFICATION

Chapter 8. TOBACCO RITUAL AND ANTI-RITUAL: SUBSTANCE INGESTION AS A HISTORY OF SOCIAL BOUNDARIES

Chapter 9. INDIVIDUALISM AND INWARDNESS AS SOCIAL PRODUCTS

NOTES

REFERENCES

INDEX

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 08. Jul 2019)

ISBN:

9781400851744

1400851742

OCLC:

890982596