Papers by Simon Gottschalk
Although most studies of the Second Generation typically account for their social psychological o... more Although most studies of the Second Generation typically account for their social psychological orientations by relying on psychiatric and psychological models, I propose an alternative "listening" to this cohort. I analyze indepth interviews by adopting Hochschild's insights on emotion work as a sensitizing framework and suggest that (1) four interrelated types of "deep acting" they continuously feel compelled to perform can account for the psychological "symptoms" commonly attributed to them and (2) these types of deep acting constitute adjustments and reactions to problematic emotional dynamics characterizing their survivor families. I conclude with a discussion of the reciprocal effects of this emotion work.
While various theorists explain the postmodern moment or culture by pointing at an acceleration o... more While various theorists explain the postmodern moment or culture by pointing at an acceleration of transformations in macro-social institutions, such explanations remain often abstract and removed from everyday experience. Seeking to concretize how speed is articulated in popular texts, I analyze here the various strategies TV commercial ads deploy to inscribe speed as a normal and desirable quality of everyday life, objects, and self. Focusing on both pictorial and textual dimensions, I call the reader's attention to these strategies, and discuss the possible social and psychological consequences of the ideological orientations they articulate.
Recent French sociological scholarship suggests the notion of hypermodernity to characterize the ... more Recent French sociological scholarship suggests the notion of hypermodernity to characterize the contemporary moment. While the meanings of this concept vary, the idea of excess seems central. Informed by this new scholarship, this article analyzes the superlative rhetoric in contemporary televised and internet commercials, and suggests elective affinities between this rhetoric and the various trends characterizing the hypermodern present.
What do interactions in virtual spaces suggest about everyday life in the digital age? How do int... more What do interactions in virtual spaces suggest about everyday life in the digital age? How do interactions in virtual spaces shape everyday life in the digital age? Guided by hypermodern theory, I conduct participant observation in the social virtual world Second Life to provide tentative answers to those questions. I suggest that Second Life is both a social psychological playground where participants enjoy individualistic fantasies and a virtual community where they collaborate on collective projects. When people define the virtual as real, it is real in its consequences. Accordingly, social virtual spaces such as Second Life offer sociologists unique opportunities for research, education, intervention, and hence, the development of a virtual imagination.
C'est véritablement un voeu pieux de dire que nous sommes vraiment déconnectés. La plupart d'entr... more C'est véritablement un voeu pieux de dire que nous sommes vraiment déconnectés. La plupart d'entre nous sommes toujours plus ou moins connectés. » 5 L'appel à comprendre et à résister à l'impact de nos interactions avec les terminaux n'est pas seulement un exercice intellectuel. Il est aussi motivé par une réelle inquiétude : les crises de plus en plus complexes qui menacent notre espèce, le citoyen, la société et la planète se multiplient ; tout espoir d'y faire face de manière intelligente exige de toute urgence une avancée évolutionnaire dans notre capacité à comprendre des événements qui se déroulent rapidement et auxquels nous participons chaque jour. Cependant, les dispositions psychosociales provoquées par nos interactions avec le terminal diminuent les aptitudes nécessaires pour que cette avancée ait lieu. Ainsi, les deux principaux arguments que je présente dans ce chapitre sont que les interactions avec le terminal infantilisent l'utilisateur, et ce, en partie, parce qu'il offre une expérience personnalisée. Comme je le développe plus loin dans ce chapitre, l'infantilisation est un trait important du soi terminal et, par ailleurs, de la culture et de la sensibilité hypermodernes.
Although most studies of the Second Generation typically account for their social psychological o... more Although most studies of the Second Generation typically account for their social psychological orientations by relying on psychiatric and psychological models, I propose an alternative "listening" to this cohort. I analyze indepth interviews by adopting Hochschild's insights on emotion work as a sensitizing framework and suggest that (1) four interrelated types of "deep acting" they continuously feel compelled to perform can account for the psychological "symptoms" commonly attributed to them and (2) these types of deep acting constitute adjustments and reactions to problematic emotional dynamics characterizing their survivor families. I conclude with a discussion of the reciprocal effects of this emotion work.
Relying on the analysis of ethnographic and documentary data, this article explains how U.S. Whit... more Relying on the analysis of ethnographic and documentary data, this article explains how U.S. White Power Movement (WPM) activists use music to produce collective occasions and experiences that we conceptualize as the movement's music scene. We use the concept "music scene" to refer to the full range of movement occasions in which music is the organizing principle. Members experience these not as discrete events, but as interconnected sets of situations that form a relatively coherent movement music scene. We emphasize three analytically distinct dimensions of this scene-local, translocal, and virtual-and specify how each contributes to emotionally loaded experiences that nurture collective identity. Participants claim that strong feelings of dignity, pride, pleasure, love, kinship, and fellowship are supported through involvement in the WPM music scene. These emotions play a central role in vitalizing and sustaining member commitments to movement ideals.
HYPERMODERN DRAMATURGY IN ONLINE ENCOUNTERS
Gottschalk Simon and Jennifer Whitmer
Informed by 1960s research suggesting that early signs of emerging social psychological trends ar... more Informed by 1960s research suggesting that early signs of emerging social psychological trends are visible in countercultural groups, I use in-depth interviews and participant observation to explore the attitudes of the "Freaks" -a group of countercultural youth. Finding that they express pessimism and cynicism, rejection of metanarratives and fragmented identities, I suggest some comparisons between the Freaks' attitudes and the ones reported about their 1960s predecessors, and elaborate on the meaning of these attitudes in light of contemporary theoretical debates about a postmodern self.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
Guided by Augé’s concept of “non-place,” we conduct a mobile ethnography of the Las Vegas Strip t... more Guided by Augé’s concept of “non-place,” we conduct a mobile ethnography of the Las Vegas Strip to evoke and critically reflect on the characteristics of such environments. Informed by our findings, we contribute to the scholarship of non-places by (a) attending to three components of such environments that are seldom mentioned together (temporal organization, soundscape, and social control), and (b) suggesting a tentative model of non-places that integrates: function (entertainment, transportation, hospitality, consumption); design (signage, movement, temporal organization, and soundscape); social control system (their mechanisms, visibility, power, sanctions, types of violation); performances (the roles they prompt users to play and the interactions they direct them to perform), and subjectivities (the sort of self-experiences they induce). In the conclusions, we summarize our findings and re-visit the concept of non-place.
Psychotropic Drugs and Popular Culture
SOUND ACTS: ELOCUTION, SOMATIC WORK, AND THE PERFORMANCE OF SONIC ALIGNMENT
Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 2010
MAKING SENSE OF THE WEATHER: DWELLING AND WEATHERING ON CANADA'S RAIN COAST
Space and Culture , 2012
Uploads
Papers by Simon Gottschalk