Emotions and Social Change. Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives

What does the book cover: Up until a few years ago, much effort went into legitimating the study of emotions from a sociological perspective (Barbalet 2001) and some of the main theoretical controversies concerned the question of how emotions are to be defined, whether or to what extent they are physiologically, structurally, or culturally determined, and how they connect the micro- and macro-levels of analysis. Similarly, the question of whether and how each individual emotion is to be recognized and defined, and how emotions in general and each emotion in particular work(s) has been of great analytical interest (Damasio 1994, 2003, Katz 1999). The Sociology of Emotions is not only marked by various theoretical approaches, one can also find substantial continental- and country-based differences. The contemporary Sociologists of Emotions are no longer mainly concerned about the legitimation of their area of study. They take it for granted and explore the role of emotions in the newest developmental trends, trying to offer value-added to the general societal and sociological debates. But it took almost fifty years before cultural sociologists, evolutionary sociologists, and micro situation theorists from many different traditions such as exchange theory, ethnomethodology, and symbolic interactionism abandoned the cognitivist paradigm to lead a vanguard of contemporary microsociology (Barbalet 2004; Turner and Stets 2005). Throughout this long journey, various scholars (Goffman 1963; Lewis 1971, Hochschild 1983, Scheff 1983, 1997, 2003) have shown the ambivalence of the emotions: on the one hand instruments of social control and maintenance of the status quo, and on the other hand drivers of conflict, revolt, and social change. The development of the Sociology of Emotions shows the relevance of emotions, both at the micro level of processes of interaction, at the meso level of the construction of local solidarities, and at the macro level of social structures. Most people still think of emotions as a purely internal experience, composed solely of physiological and psychological elements; emotions are also phenomena most people usually think of as “natural.” Sociologists are interested into how emotions are socially constructed and constitutive of contemporary societies (Burkitt 2014, Turner and Stets 2005, 2006, Stets and Turner 2014). In the last decades, sociologists have increasingly come to appreciate the key role emotions play in social life and begun to explore the social side of emotion—for example, how emotions are shaped socially and culturally, how emotions are socially controlled and the consequences of emotion for social life. Emotions charge people with motivation and sustain them with energy to carry out individual and collective goals (Collins 2004); they help people evaluating issues and making decisions; they bind people to social groups, structures, and institutions; and they can foster social change. Whether as the social glue in social life or as the triggering element for social change, emotions are ubiquitous. They are vital in our everyday social interactions on the city sidewalk, in the coffee shop, at work, at school, in our families and in our daily encounters. They are a fundamental part of our relationships with other people and with larger social units such as political groups, nations, religions, intersecting sociological variables such as gender, class, race/ethnicity, ablebodiness, sexual orientation and religion. This array of premises motivates our focus. In the proposed book, we will examine these and other sociological aspects of the emotional experience, including exploring current debates about the social, cultural, and political functions of emotions. The proposed book is intended to highlight the long-standing sociological relevance of emotions, its inevitable and fruitful interdisciplinary contaminations, and its more recent theoretical and methodological advances, drawing on some examples of empirical research on emotions. It will enable us to explore how the sociology of emotions can challenge some of sociology’s key premises and ways of thinking and to critically analyse debates about the changing role of emotions in social life. The book examines how modernity has made people feel about each other and their world and how those feelings have in turn shaped that world. The general aim of the project is to develop a solid understanding of the relevance of emotions to analyse and interpret contemporary times and events. The emphasis throughout will be on how emotions explain social phenomena and simultaneously provide critical and analytical tools to challenge dominant or conventional interpretations of them. Why is it needed: There are several handbooks on the sociology of emotions collecting the different theoretical approaches to emotions and/or the different social arenas where emotions unfold their potential (Stets and Turner 2014); several monographs and collective works on specific theories on emotions; several works devoted to the analysis of specific emotions; and quite a few books addressing specific aspects of current debates on the theoretical and political relevance of emotions. None of them addresses simultaneously these different facets: 1) the origins of the early theorisations on emotions; 2) the different theoretical perspectives on emotions and their limitations; 3) some of the most recent theoretical and methodological advances and empirical applications; 4) the vast potentialities of such recent developments when we try to overcome a narrow, monodisciplinary perspective to embrace a proper interdisciplinary one. Focal in this book is another approach to the Sociology of Emotions which is aimed to summarise the current state of the art in a comprehensive and wide-ranging manner, by means of a handy and accessible volume that can benefit MA and PhD students as well as a larger audience. In addition, several works have addressed some of the above-mentioned aspects separately and without explicitly connecting the different emotional dynamics with the broader themes of citizenship, inequality, social exclusion/inclusion, and social change. The proposed book goes beyond a mere focus on sociological theories on emotions to include a critical analysis of such less visible connections. It is aimed to illustrate how emotions represent a crucial component to analyse and interpret past and present social phenomena and to suggest different approaches to investigation which may help us to shape the future direction of sociological and historical thinking and research both at the micro- and macro- level of analysis. There are still inconsistencies and contradictions of a theoretical nature, which require a greater degree of integration between them. Much research, moreover, has focused on a few specific emotions, but human beings do not experience emotions in isolation and independently and, above all, emotions do not constitute static realities but are processes that occur and change over time, through chains of events, and should be analysed as such, that is, as dynamic realities. Besides, while it is true that theoretical development has been accompanied by the development of empirical research techniques, on the methodological side there are still many steps to be taken and more empirical research is needed to develop new research tools or refine existing ones. A further critical point is the fact that, to date, sociological analyses of the emotions have mainly concentrated on the micro side of interactions between individuals, rather than on the macro side of social structures and processes. A genuine macrosociology of the emotions has yet to be developed. The proposed book addresses these limitations and provides suggestions for further theoretical and methodological developments. Finally, intersectionality and the explanatory role of emotions in explaining the links between micro-situated dynamics, social inclusion and social change characterise the book’s significance and added value. How will it benefit graduate students and teachers: The specific benefits of the proposed work lie in its comprehensive scope and multiple implications. On a general level, the textbook provides a compact overview of the different ways to conceptualise emotions from different disciplinary perspectives, with a specific focus on sociological theories. It then provides the analytical tools for a critical understanding of major social and cultural changes involving people’s knowledge and notions of some key topics and research areas (politics, social class, inequalities, violence, media, care, citizenship, etc.) and highlights the intrinsic potentialities of such changes as well as the conditions under which they can become a resource. Deconstructing commonsensical representations of these notions may help us to understand the nature and the quality of an emerging cultural change, anticipating future theoretical developments as well as future policy needs. This can be achieved when we openly acknowledge and understand the contributions of all social actors involved in such change, be they men or women; LGBTQ+ or heterosexual; white or non-white; young or old; married, single, cohabitant, or living apart together; wealthy or poor; able or disabled; with or without different forms of capital (cultural, economic, symbolic, social, and emotional capital). Adding a focus on different types of social actors is important not only theoretically, to fill the gaps, but also strategically, to increase equality. This is what the proposed book will do. The book possesses important theoretical and pedagogical implications for graduate students. The book’s cross-disciplinary appeal is one of its major strengths: the variety of theories, researches and case studies used to exemplify current debates will allow the readers to reflect upon their own knowledges and experiences in challenging common assumptions and stereotypes. Each chapter will include additional features such as a chapter summary, a thinking questions’ box, and a glossary index aimed to support and review the learning process. The book will also benefit scholars engaged with inclusive, critical approaches to the study of present and past social phenomena as well as teachers and policy makers. The beneficiaries of this project will therefore entail academic and non-academic contexts: students, researchers, professionals, and anyone using, planning, or conducting research on the crucial relationship between emotional dynamics and social change.