Erving Goffman's Intellectual Heirs: A Survey of the Impact of Erving Goffman's Social Thoughts on Theorization of Contemporary Sociological Thinkers

Document Type : Research

Authors

Fatemeh Golabi ¹

Adel Mohabatian ²

¹ Professor in Department of Social Sciences, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

² PhD Candidate in Economic Sociology and Development, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22067/social.2024.85370.1449

Abstract

Erving Goffman's social thoughts have profoundly influenced contemporary thinkers across various domains of sociology and beyond, shaping the way modern scholars approach the study of human interaction and social structures. Goffman broke away from his contemporaries who focused on macro social phenomena and explored the day-to-day aspects of social life that were not widely studied at the time and were not deemed conducive to  a sociologist's career advancement. Though not a prominent methodologist or a traditional theorist, Goffman uniquely combined theory and method, focusing on previously unexplored areas of sociology. Goffman benefited from his preceding classical thinkers in sociology. Inspired by the theories of Georg Simmel, he concentrated on social forms as well as the molecular processes of social life. Goffman adopted Emile Durkheim's concept of ritual, which he used to clarify the concept of ego and the moral dimension in everyday life interactions. The theories of George Herbert Mead kindled his interest in symbolic interrelationships between people. Goffman also borrowed many ideas from existentialism's take on the absurd nature of modern life, as well as from animal behaviorism (especially the idea of developing personal territories). On the other hand, Goffman's theories particularly influenced many social thinkers worldwide. This paper seeks to investigate the impact of Erving Goffman's sociological thoughts on various contemporary thinkers using the library research method. including Harold Garfinkel (ethnomethodology), Anthony Giddens (ontological security), Jürgen Habermas (communicative action theory), Nicolas Lohmann (complexities of communication, trust and social order), Pierre Bourdieu (gender studies, micro-macro links and the dynamics of symbolic violence), sociology of emotions (power dynamics, economic aspects, and internal processes of emotion management), as well as a wide range of thinkers in diverse fields who have been inspired by Goffman's thoughts.
 
 

Keywords

Erving Goffman

Jürgen Habermas

Sociology of emotions

Harold Garfinkel

Anthony Giddens

Nicolas Lohmann

Pierre Bourdieu

---

©2024 The author(s). This is an open access article distributed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0)

References

1. ایمان، م.ت.؛ و مرادی، گ. (1390). روش‌شناسی نظریۀ اجتماعی گافمن. فصلنامۀ زن و جامعه، 2(6)، 78-59.
2. خسروی شکیب، م. (1401). تحلیلی جامعه‌شناختی بر حکایت «شیخ صنعان» در منطق‌الطیر (براساس نظریۀ «داغ ننگ» اروینگ گافمن). پژوهش زبان و ادبیات فارسی، 1(66)، 50-25.
3. ذبیح‌نیا عمران، آ.، (1401). تحلیل رمان پرفروش شبح از سوزان کی براساس نظریۀ داغ ننگ اروینگ گافمن. دوفصلنامه پژوهش‌های میان رشته‌ای زبان و ادبیات فارسی، 1(2)، 114-95.
4. طاهری، ا. (1401). تجربۀ زیسته افراد دارای اختلال هویت جنسی از برچسب خوردن طبق نظریه داغ ننگ گافمن (مورد مطالعه:استان فارس-شهرستان لارستان). دومین کنفرانس ملی مطالعات کاربردی در فرایندهای تعلیم و تربیت، بندرعباس.
5. علیا، م.؛ و هاشمی نسب، م. (1398). بیان خود از طریق انتخاب تصویر پروفایل در میان کاربران زن ایرانی در شبکه‎های اجتماعی با تکیه بر نظریۀ نمایشی گافمن. زن در فرهنگ و هنر، 11(4)، 626-599.
6. فاطمی، ف.؛ و رهبرنیا، ز. (1402). تحلیل مراحل برقراری ارتباط مخاطب در «چیدمان دیجیتال تعاملی آیینه» با تکیه بر نظریه تحلیل چهارچوب اروینگ گافمن. مبانی نظری هنرهای تجسمی، 8(2)، 172-163.
7. فرامرز، ح.؛ توسلی، ا.؛ و پنجه‌باشی، ا. (1402). تحلیل جنسیتی تصویر زن در نقاشی‌های معصومه مظفری با استفاده از نظریۀ گافمن. هشتمین کنفرانس ملی پژوهش های نوین در حوزه علوم انسانی و مطالعات اجتماعی ایران،تهران.
8. قوتی سفیدسنگی، ع.؛ حسینی، س.ج.؛ پیرک، م.؛ و میرعلائی امین، ح. (1399). تحلیل فرانظری: نظریه نمایشی اروینگ گافمن. معرفت فرهنگی اجتماعی، 12(1)، 79-59.
9. مقدمی، م.؛ و دری، ن. (1402). بررسی شخصیت اصلی رمان «روز دیگر شورا» براساس نظریه جامعه شناختی «استعاره نمایشی» گافمن. اجتماعیات در ادب فارسی، 2(2)، 16-1.
10. ملکی مارشک، ف.؛ قوام، ا. ؛ و زنجانی‌زاده، ه. (1402). بررسی هویت اجتماعی زنان در بخش پهلوانی شاهنامۀ فردوسی برمبنای دیدگاه جامعه‌شناختی گافمن. زن در فرهنگ و هنر، 15 (1)، 118-93.
11. یعغوبی چوبری، ع. (1399)، زبان استعاری و بینش جامعه شناختی اروینگ گافمن، مطالعات جامعه شناختی، 24(1)، 149-170.
12. Adler, P., & Adler, P. (1989). The gloried self: The aggrandizement and the constriction of self. Social Psychology Quarterly, 52(4), 299–310. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2786993
13. Album, D. (1995). Hvordan går det med Goffman og Garfinkel? Teorier om samhandling ansikt til ansikt. Sociologisk Tidsskrift, 4(1), 245–262.
14. Album, D. (1996). Nære fremmede: Patientkulturen i sykehus [Close strangers: Patient culture in a Norwegian hospital]. Otta: Tano.
15. Andrea, Lombardinilo. (2023). Mainstream Soliloquies: Erving Goffman and the Sociology of Self-Talk. doi: 10.1057/978-1-349-96084-2_4
16. Attewell, P. (1974). Ethnomethodology since Garfinkel. Theory and Society, 1, 179–210.
17. Bateson, G. (1972). Steps to an ecology of mind. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
18. Bauman, Z. (1967). Image of man in the modern sociology–Some methodological remarks. Polish Sociological Bulletin, 7(1), 12–21.
19. Benjamin, Kelly., W., Peter, Archibald. (2019). Erving Goffman and the Evolutionary Ecological Missing Link. doi: 10.1108/S0163-239620190000050007
20. Bourdieu, P. (1983). Erving Goffman: Discoverer of the infinitely small. Theory, Culture & Society, 2(1), 112–113.
21. Bourdieu, P. (1998). Masculine domination. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
22. Bourdieu, P., & Wacquant, L. J. D. (1992). An invitation to reflexive sociology: Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
23. Brittan, A. (1973). Meanings and situations. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
24. Chris, Brickell. (2022). Goffman and gender studies.
    doi: 10.4324/9781003160861-25
25. Chriss, J. J. (1993). Durkheim's cult of the individual as civil religion: Its appropriation by Erving Goffman. Sociological Spectrum, 13, 251–275.
26. Chriss, J. J. (1995b). Habermas, Goffman, and communicative action: Implications for professional practice. American Sociological Review, 60, 545–565.
27. Collier, D. "The Comparative Method." In Political Science: The State of the Discipline II, edited by Ada W. Finifter, 105-119. Washington, DC: American Political Science Association, 1993.
28. Collins, R. (1985). Three sociological traditions. New York: Oxford University Press.
29. Collins, R. (1988b). Theoretical continuities in Goffman's Work. In P. & A. Wootton (Eds.), Erving Goffman–Exploring the interaction order, pp. 41–63. Boston: Northeastern University Press.
30. Collins, R. (1990). Stratification, emotional energy and the transient emotions. In T. D.Kemper (Ed.), Research agendas in the sociology of emotions, pp. 27–57. Albany: State University of New York Press.
31. Collins, R. (2004). Interaction ritual chains.Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/9781400851744
32. DAFTAR, ISI. (2022). Goffman and gambling studies. doi: 10.4324/9781003160861-26
33. David, Inglis., Christopher, Thorpe. (2023). Beyond the “inimitable” Goffman: from “social theory” to social theorizing in a Goffmanesque manner. Frontiers in Sociology, doi: 10.3389/fsoc.2023.1171087
34. Denzin, N. K. (2002). Much ado about Goffman. American Sociologist, 33(2), 105–117. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12108-002-1005-3
35. Diane, Rogan-Sofer. (2021). Goffman's footnotes. doi: 10.4324/9781003160861-39
36. Diane, Rogan-Sofer. (2022). Erving Goffman and the sociology of death and dying. doi: 10.4324/9781003160861-29
37. Dirk, vom, Lehn. (2019). Harold Garfinkel und die Kultursoziologie. doi: 10.1007/978-3-658-07616-0_66
38. Dmitri, N., Shalin. (2014). Interfacing Biography, Theory and History: The Case of Erving Goffman. Symbolic Interaction, doi: 10.1002/SYMB.82
39. Dmitri, N., Shalin. (2021). Goffman’s Biography and the Interaction Order. Society, doi: 10.1007/S12115-021-00561-3
40. Édison, Gastaldo. (2021). Goffman e a interação por videoconferência: notas teórico-metodológicas.
    doi: 10.34019/1982-2243. 2021.V25.33777
41. Eiji, Itoi. (2022). Goffman and the sociology of the body.
    doi: 10.4324/9781003160861-22
42. Eviatar, Zerubavel. (2022). Learning from Goffman.
    doi: 10.4324/9781003160861-38
43. Ford, J. (1975). Paradigms and fairy tales, volume 1–2. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
44. Francesco, Ranci. (2021). The Unfinished Business of Erving Goffman: From Marginalization Up Towards the Elusive Center of American Sociology. The American Sociologist,
    doi: 10.1007/S12108-021-09489-X
45. Garfinkel, H. (1956). Conditions of successful degradation ceremonies. American Journal of Sociology, 61(4), 420–424. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/221800
46. Garfinkel, H. (1967). Studies in ethnomethodology. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
47. Giddens, A. (1976). New rules of sociological method. London: Hutchinson University Library.
48. Giddens, A. (1984). The constitution of society. Cambridge: Polity Press.
49. Glenn, A., Bowen. (2009). Document Analysis as a Qualitative Research Method. Qualitative Research Journal,
    doi: 10.3316/QRJ0902027
50. Goffman, E. (1953a). The service station dealer: The man and his work. Chicago: Social Research Incorporation.
51. Goffman, E. (1956). The nature of deference and demeanor. American Anthropologist, 58(3), 473–502. http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/aa.1956.58.3.02a00070
52. Goffman, E. (1959). The presentation of self in everyday life. New York: The Overlook Press.
53. Goffman, E. (1961). Asylums: Essays on the social situation of mental patients and other inmates. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.
54. Goffman, E. (1963). Behavior in public places: Notes on the social organization of gatherings. New York: Free Press.
55. Goffman, E. (1967). Interaction ritual: Essays on face-to-face behaviour. New York: Anchor Books.
56. Goffman, E. (1971). Relations in public: Microstudies of the public order. New York: Basic Books.
57. Goffman, E. (1972). Encounters: Two studies in the sociology of interaction.Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.
58. Goffman, E. (1974). Frame analysis: An essay on the organization of experience.New York: Harper & Row.
59. Goffman, E. (1977c). La ritualisation de la féminité. Actes de la recherce en sciences sociales, 14, 34–50. http://dx.doi.org/10.3406/arss.1977.2553
60. Goffman, E. (1981a). Forms of talk.Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
61. Gouldner, A. W. (1970). The coming crisis of western sociology.London: Heinemann.
62. Habermas, J. (1973/1997). Legitimation crisis.Cambridge: Polity Press.
63. Habermas, J. (1984). The theory of communicative action vol. 1: Reason and the rationalization of society.Boston: Beacon Press.
64. Hani, Morgan. (2021). Conducting a Qualitative Document Analysis. The qualitative report, doi: 10.46743/2160-3715/2022.5044
65. Henslin, J. M., & Biggs, M. A. (1978). Dramaturgical desexualization: The sociology of vaginal examination. In J. M.Henslin & E.Sagarin (Eds.), The sociology of sex: An introductory reader, pp. 243–272. New York: Schoken Books.
66. Hochschild, A. R. (1983). The managed heart: Commercialization of human feeling.Berkeley: University of California Press.
67. Hollis, M. (1977). Models of man: Philosophical thoughts on social action.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781316286722
68. Imogen, Tyler. (2018). Resituating Erving Goffman: From Stigma Power to Black Power:. The Sociological Review, doi: 10.1177/0038026118777450
69. Jacques, Henriot. (2021). W. Lloyd Warner (1898–1970). doi: 10.1007/978-3-476-05871-3_15
70. James, F., Cosgrave. (2016). Doubling Down on Goffman: A Commentary on Dmitri Shalin’s ‘Erving Goffman, Fateful Action, and the Las Vegas Gambling Scene’. UNLV gaming research & review journal,
71. Jared, J., Wesley. (2009). Qualitative Document Analysis in Political Science.
72. Jarosław, Gara. (2024). The Pedagogical Model of Thought and Activity in the Social World of Interaction Rituals - in the thought of Erving Goffman. Journal of Preschool and Elementary School Education, doi: 10.35765/mjse.2024.1325.09
73. Jochen, Kade. (2021). Pierre Bourdieu (1930–2002). doi: 10.1007/978-3-476-05871-3_54
74. José, Vicente, Villalobos-Antúnez. (2022). Goffman and medical sociology. doi: 10.4324/9781003160861-17
75. Juan, José, Caballero, Romero. (2024). La interacción social en Goffman. Revista Espanola De Investigaciones Sociologicas, doi: 10.5477/cis/reis.83.121
76. Juarez, Lopes, de, Carvalho, Filho. (2016). Rituais de interação na vida cotidiana: Goffman, leitor de Durkheim. Politics & Society,
    doi: 10.5007/2175-7984.2016V15N34P137
77. Karl, E., Scheibe., Frank, J., Barrett. (2016). The Dramaturgical Approach to Social Psychology: The Influence of Erving Goffman. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-48790-8_8
78. Knorr-Cetina, K. (1981). The micro-sociological challenge of macro-sociology: Towards a reconstruction of social theory and methodology. In K.Knorr-Cetina & A. V.Cicourel (Eds.), Advances in social theory and methodology: Toward an integration of micro- and macrosociologies, pp. 1–47. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
79. Louis, Menand. (2009). Some Frames for Goffman. Social Psychology Quarterly, doi: 10.1177/019027250907200403
80. Luhmann, N. (1973/1979). Trust and power.Chichester, UK: John Wiley and Sons.
81. Luhmann, N. (1984/1995). Social systems.Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
82. Lyman, S. M., & Scott, M. B. (1970). A sociology of the absurd.New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
83. María, Jesús, Funes. (2018). Erving Goffman, su perfil y su obra. doi: 10.5944/TS.2.2018.22313
84. Marija, Miric., José, Luis, Álvaro., Rafael, González., Ana, Raquel, Rosas, Torres. (2018). Microsociología del estigma: aportes de Erving Goffman a la conceptualización psicosociológica del estigma social. doi: 10.12957/PSI.SABER.SOC.2017.33552
85. Martin, Innes., Andrew, Samuel, Dawson. (2022). Erving Goffman on Misinformation and Information Control: The Conduct of Contemporary Russian Information Operations. Symbolic Interaction, doi: 10.1002/symb.603
86. Mega, Mustikasari., Arlin, Dwi, Hastuti, Arlin., Syamsu, A., Kamaruddin. (2023). Pemikiran Pierre Bourdieu dalam Memahami Realitas Sosial. Kaganga, doi: 10.31539/kaganga.v6i1.5089
87. Michael Hviid Jacobsen, Greg Smith ,(2022). Introduction: The persisting presence of Erving Goffman. doi: 10.4324/9781003160861-1
88. Michael, Hviid, Jacobsen., Søren, Kristiansen. (2015). The Social Thought of Erving Goffman. The Social Thought of Erving Goffman, SAGE Books, SAGE Publications, Inc.ISBN 9781483381725.
89. Mikhail, M., Sokolov. (2021). Goffman as We Remember. Sotsiologicheskie Issledovaniya, doi: 10.31857/s013216250020832-8
90. Mills, C. W. (1959). The sociological imagination.New York: Oxford University Press.
91. Mortensen, N. (2000). Det moderne individs paradokser [The paradoxes of the modern self]. Distinktion, 1, 91–104. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1600910X.2000.9672773
92. Müzeyyen, Gönül. (2022). Goffman and Garfinkel. doi: 10.4324/9781003160861-32
93. Nouha, Taifi. (2022). The reception of Goffman's work in media studies. doi: 10.4324/9781003160861-19
94. Oommen, T. K. (1990). Erving Goffman and the study of everyday protest. In S. H.Riggins (Ed.), Beyond Goffman: Studies on communication, institution and social interaction, pp. 389–408. New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
95. Owen, R., Thornton. (2022). Goffman, interactionism, and the management of stigma in everyday life. doi: 10.4324/9781003283850-6
96. Patricia, E., Prestwich. (2022). Goffman and visual studies. doi: 10.4324/9781003160861-24
97. Psathas, G. (1996). Theoretical perspectives on Goffman: Critique and commentary. Sociological Perspectives, 39(3), 383–391.
98. Ryan, T. (2021). Harold Garfinkel (1917–2011). doi: 10.1007/978-3-476-05871-3_49
99. Samik, D. (2022). Goffman and Giddens. doi: 10.4324/9781003160861-34
100. Sandro, Serpa, Carlos, Miguel, Ferreira. (2018). Goffman’s Backstage Revisited: Conceptual Relevance in Contemporary Social Interactions. International journal of social science studies, doi: 10.11114/IJSSS.V6I10.3659.
101. Sayeda, Zain., Ali, Ünlü., Heater, Pro, X., Sukh, Dev. (2022). Document analysis. doi: 10.1016/b978-0-12-818630-5.11026-7
102. Summers-Effler, E. (2007). Ritual theory. In J. E.Stets & J. H.Turner (Eds.), Handbook of the sociology of emotions, pp. 135–154. New York: Springer.
103. Tomás, T. (2021). Notas sobre el pragmatismo de Erving Goffman y su concepto de estigma. doi: 10.25074/07198051.35.1846
104. Turner, J. H. (2002). Face to face: Toward a sociological theory of interpersonal behavior.Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
105. Turner, R. E., & Edgley, C. (1976). Death as theater: A dramaturgical analysis of the American funeral. Sociology and Social Research, 60(4), 377–392.
106. Wallace, R. A., & Wolf, A. (1999). Contemporary sociological theory: Expanding the classical tradition.Englewood-Cliffs, CA: Prentice Hall.
107. Winkin, Y. (1983). The French (re)presentation of Goffman's presentation and other books. Theory, Culture & Society, 2(1), 109–111.
108. Yves, Winkin., Wendy, Leeds-Hurwitz. (2013). Erving Goffman: A Critical Introduction to Media and Communication Theory.
109. ZHANG, T; LIN, L; ZHANG, Y.; NIU, X. (2022). Erving Goffman: Personal Takes. doi: 10.31235/osf.io/vy8km