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Casualties of debate: A critique of the sociology of emotion
Author(s) -
Cobb Maggie Colleen
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
sociology compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 31
ISSN - 1751-9020
DOI - 10.1111/soc4.12643
Subject(s) - dichotomy , sociology , reproduction , epistemology , aesthetics , natural (archaeology) , social psychology , psychoanalysis , psychology , philosophy , ecology , history , biology , archaeology
I argue that the adherence to and reproduction of Western dualisms has rendered the sociology of emotion a hollow, stagnant, and incestuous subfield that privileges dichotomy over complexity, natural science over social science, discourse and display over experience and embodiment, and a single body of recycled, unidimensional mandates over “other” voices that we most desperately need to hear. In conclusion, I reiterate the material consequences brought about by an unyielding and unreflexive devotion to artificial dichotomies for “real” people in the “real” world (including sociologists of emotion.)