Emotions In Social Life: Critical Themes And Contemporary Issues

The development of a sociology of emotions is crucial to our understanding of social life. Emotions are "social things"--controlled and managed in our everyday lives. Why is it then, that in Western social thought, emotions are disdainfully regarded as irrational and very often linked to a "hysterical" female?
"Emotions in Social Life" investigates how in the course of human history, this "rational" development of the separation of reason and feeling came into being, and how its institution was male-identified. In providing this comprehensive assessment of the sociology of emotions, this volume pushes forward the boundaries of sociological investigation, allowing for a better understanding of the social process. The international roster of scholars come from the fields of medical sociology, health psychology and gender studies.