Deciphering Goffman: The Structure of his Sociological Theory Revisited PDF
Preview Deciphering Goffman: The Structure of his Sociological Theory Revisited
ff Deciphering Go man Challengingthe‘classical’conceptionofGoffman’ssociology,thisbookoffers a new interpretation based on a comprehensive examination of previous interpretations and critical assessments of Goffman’swork. Epistemologically, the book acknowledges the important but overlooked influences of both pluralism and particularly of pragmatism, where not only Simmel but also James and Dewey played a pivotal role in his work, thus rooting Goffman’s thought in symbolic interactionism. With attention to two central theoretical principles underlying his work—the pertinence of studying social interaction as given and the need and warrant to study face-to-face interaction in its own right—the author presents a rigorous examination of Goffman’s own writings to uncover the clear and recognizable process of systematization that Goffman followed throughout. In this manner, the book reveals the structure of Goffman’s theory by way of mapping the main themes, topics, concepts, empirical referents, methodological principles and theoretical frameworks relevant to the structure of his thought. A fresh examination of the structure of Goffman’s work that sheds light on the core of his unique approach, this new study of one of the central figures of sociology constitutes an important contribution to scholarship in social theory and the history of sociology. Ramón Vargas Maseda has lectured at the Ibero-American University, the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico, and, most recently, in the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, where he was Professorof Sociology. Routledge Studies in Social and Political Thought For a full list of titles in this series, please visit www.routledge.com/series/RSSPT 114 Modernity and Crisis in the Thought of Michel Foucault The Totality of Reason Matan Oram 115 Crisis and Critique On the Fragile Foundations of Social Life Rodrigo Cordero 116 China in Early Enlightenment Political Thought Simon Kow 117 Elementary Forms of Social Relations Status, Power and Reference Groups Theodore D. Kemper 118 Groundwork for the Practice of the Good Life Politics and Ethics at the Intersection of North Atlantic and African Philosophy Omedi Ochieng 119 Theories of the Stranger Debates on Cosmopolitanism, Identity and Cross-Cultural Encounters Vince Marotta 120 Planet Utopia Utopia, Dystopia, and Globalisation Mark Featherstone ff Deciphering Go man The Structure of his Sociological Theory Revisited Ramón Vargas Maseda c mi Economic o Economic n o EcEconomic Firstpublished2017 byRoutledge 2ParkSquare,MiltonPark,Abingdon,OxonOX144RN andbyRoutledge 711ThirdAvenue,NewYork,NY10017 RoutledgeisanimprintoftheTaylor&FrancisGroup,aninformabusiness ©2017RamónVargasMaseda TherightofRamónVargasMasedatobeidentifiedasauthorofthiswork hasbeenassertedbyhiminaccordancewithsections77and78ofthe Copyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988. Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereprintedorreproducedor utilisedinanyformorbyanyelectronic,mechanical,orothermeans,now knownorhereafterinvented,includingphotocopyingandrecording,orin anyinformationstorageorretrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwriting fromthepublishers. Trademarknotice:Productorcorporatenamesmaybetrademarksor registeredtrademarks,andareusedonlyforidentificationandexplanation withoutintenttoinfringe. BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData Acatalogrecordforthisbookhasbeenrequested ISBN:978-1-4724-6641-9(hbk) ISBN:978-1-315-57612-1(ebk) TypesetinTimesNewRoman byTaylor&FrancisBooks To the memory of my mother, María del Pilar Maseda Martín This page intentionally left blank Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 PARTI Diverging interpretations 7 1 Between opposing schools of thought 9 2 Dominant sociology and modern epistemology 31 3 Non-modern approaches 46 PARTII The philosophical base 63 4 Simmel, American pragmatism, and Goffman 65 PARTIII Theoretical background 83 5 Theoretical principles 85 PARTIV The structure of Goffman’s sociological theory 95 6 The selection of concepts 97 7 The willing adjustment and remedial action 101 viii Contents 8 The necessary adjustment and defensive action 154 9 The hinge principle 180 Conclusions 188 Index 193 Acknowledgments I am very grateful to my editor, Neil Jordan, for his confidence in this book and his most helpful suggestions. I also want to thank my wife, Cristina Navarrete Pedraza, for her invaluable support and understanding all these years, as well as for her assistance with English and editing—whatever errors there may be are not attributable to her. And lastly, I give credit to my proofreader, Cary Elcome, for his sensitive, meticulous work.
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