Emotions and Civil Society
A Pragmatist Sociology
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd
Publishing:8th Dec '26
£171.99
This title is due to be published on 8th December, and will be despatched as soon as possible.
This book explores how sensibilities are cultivated through civic action. It traces the conditions under which they flourish, circulate and shape collective life. Moving beyond episodic and exceptionalist understandings of crises, it examines how intertwined social, political and ecological issues nurture both personal experience and collective ways of feeling.
Drawing on pragmatist sociology, this book develops a novel account of emotions as (an)aesthetic attunements to problematic situations and introduces the concept of civic aesthetics to investigate how emotions leave lasting effects through civic action on what people learn to perceive, value and feel. Through four ethnographic studies of refugee hospitality, climate activism, environmental conflict and multispecies solidarity, it shows how citizens not only respond to social problems but also make them perceptible, meaningful and collectively felt. In doing so, they contribute to the creation of new forms of democratic life while exposing the tensions, ambivalences and unintended consequences that accompany civic engagement.
Addressed to scholars and students of the sociology of emotions, political science, migration and environmental studies, as well as to activists and practitioners, this book offers a distinctive contribution to contemporary debates on emotions, democracy and crisis. More broadly, it speaks to anyone interested in understanding how we learn to feel and act together in uncertain times.
In this beautifully written and thought-provoking book, Lampredi weaves together theory and empirics, philosophy and sociology, to develop an innovative pragmatist theory of emotions centered on the concept of sensibilities. Drawing on four ethnographic case studies, he shows how sensibilities can be cultivated through the shared experiences of actors in civil society, and the powerful sense-making and motivational capacities this opens up for politics. Emotions and Civil Society is a wonderful contribution to pragmatist sociology.
Neil Gross, Professor of Sociology, Colby College
Crafting a pragmatist-inspired theory of emotions Lampredi's book moves the conversation in exciting and productive ways. Part theoretical reflection, part pointed ethnographic vignettes, the book will be a touchstone for sociologists of emotions, pragmatists, and political sociologists alike.
Iddo Tavory, Professor of Sociology, New York University
Inspired primarily by John Dewey and Herbert Mead, and in dialogue with central contributors to the growing fields of the sociology of emotions and affect, this book offers a pragmatist approach to emotions for the 21st century. With timely empirical examples from collective civic action highlighting crucial contemporary problems, Lampredi advances a theory of emotions as rhythmic and aesthetic sensibility that is collectively cultivated and essential for human involvement with the world. A highly inspiring and thought-provoking read for researchers as well as advanced students who are exploring new ways of thinking about what emotions are and what they do.
Åsa Wettergren, Professor of Sociology, University of Gothenburg
The crisis of the relationship between emotions and democracy now has a radical new interpretation: it is a crisis of the sensory capacities of citizens to feel, perceive, and recognise the real emergencies of the contemporary world and consequently to respond to them. This sensitivity must be urgently nourished, nurtured, and cultivated through civic engagement. Attaining it, novel perspectives on emotions, and new and creative forms of democratic life and civic action will bloom.
Giampietro Gobo, Professor of Science and Technology Studies, University of Milan
ISBN: 9781041285755
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
232 pages