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Informationen zum Autor MARIUSZ FINKIELSZTEIN is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Sociology, University of Gdäsk, Poland. His research interests include boredom, sociology of emotions, higher education, and creative occupations. He is Secretary of the International Society of Boredom Studies, Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Boredom Studies, founder of the International Interdisciplinary Boredom Conference, and author of Boredom and Academic Work . Klappentext A pioneering sociological exploration of boredom as a culturally- and socially-dependent emotion Does boredom have a history? What can hunter-gatherers teach us about boredom? Is boredom experienced differently by those in different socio-economic classes? Is boredom a disease that is now globalized in a world of inequalities and marginalization? Does boredom contribute to political movements, wars, terrorism, or cultural revolutions? What does boredom have to do with power? How do high expectations contribute to being recurrently bored? In The Sociology of Boredom, Mariusz Finkielsztein provides a new approach to conceptualizing, interpreting, and perceiving one of the most widespread, yet neglected, human emotions. Investigating boredom at both the macro- and micro-sociological level, Finkielsztein develops an original relational-expectational theory as he explores boredom through the lenses of different social structure theories, interactionist theory, historical sociology, sociology of emotions, essentialism and constructivism, and social anthropology. Eight in-depth chapters examine the social production of boredom in modernity and late modernity, addressing topics such as the boredom of marginalized groups, the concepts of busy boredom and consumer boredom, the characteristics and consequences of workplace boredom, the notion of smart boredom in the information society, and more. Containing detailed analyses of the nature of boredom and its connections to various spheres of social life, The Sociology of Boredom is essential reading for advanced undergraduates, postgraduates, university lecturers, and academic researchers in sociology and similar disciplines, particularly those involved in studies on emotions or boredom studies. Inhaltsverzeichnis Illustrations xi About the Author xii Acknowledgements xiii Introduction: Upstream Psychological Trend 1 In Search of the Sociology of Boredom 1 Boredom as a Social Emotion 4 Defining Boredom 5 The Structure of the Book 9 References 15 1 Boredom and Modernity 19 Does Boredom Have a History? 19 Hard Essentialism 20 Soft Essentialism: Philosophy 21 Soft Essentialism: Historicism 22 Boredom as a Social Construct of Modernity 29 Disenchantment of the World: Life Without a Mythology 32 Rationalization: The Supersedure of Meaning by Function 35 Industrialization 36 Alienation 37 Institutionalization of Boredom: Bureaucracy and Education 39 Individualism: The Atrophy of Community 42 Leisure Boredom 43 Romantic Boredom 43 Anomie and Boredom 45 References 50 2 Late Modern Boredom 57 Busy Boredom 58 Acceleration and the Achievement Society 58 Social Placebos and Smart Boredom 61 Overload: Redundancy, Noise, and Inattention 64 Consumer Boredom 68 Artificial Needs 72 The Addiction to Stimuli, Novelty, and Pleasure 74 Change for Change's Sake: Fashion 77 The Boredom Industry and the Failure of Re- enchantment 79 The Rationalization of Consumption 80 Consumer Passivity 81 The Dream- driven Society of High Expectations 82 Boredom as a Fundamental Mood of Consumerism 83 References 85 3 Boredom and Social Inequality 90 Boredom as a ...
