The Contemporary Goffman

Book excerpt: The sociology of Erving Goffman has inspired generations of sociologists throughout the world. Students and scholars alike have in Goffman’s unsurpassable and generous ability to capture the world of everyday life discovered an emporium of useful, incisive and quite often humorous analyses, concepts and ideas. The Contemporary Goffman highlights the continued relevance of Goffman to sociology and related disciplines – to theoretical discussions as well as to substantive empirical research – through contributions dealing with a variety of topics and themes. Some contributions concentrate on locating or reinterpreting Goffman’s work as a special kind of sociology (as is found in his literary sensibilities or his fieldwork strategies). Others focus on overlooked aspects and neglected potentials of his sociology (by applying his perspective to studies of gender, emotions and violence), while others still relate his concepts and ideas to substantive research areas (such as the media, mobile telephones, hospitals, surveillance technologies and tourism).