Emotion and the World of Sociological Theory

• In Event: 479 - Section on Sociology of Emotions Paper Session. Emotions and Social Worlds

Abstract

Abstract. This paper explores how human emotional experience can figure in the practice of sociological theory by looking at the theoretical practices of Jane Addams. In so doing, the paper seeks to enlarge the history of the sociology of emotions to include one of its major but largely overlooked thinkers, Jane Addams. The paper examines the role of emotion not primarily as an analytic variable in social situations but as a source of strategies for conveying the validity of the theoretical argument. We organize our presentation around the ways that Addams conveys emotion through narratives, appeals to the reader, presentation of self, and development of objective correlatives. We relate Addams’s work to contemporary discussions of the role of emotion.

Authors

• Patricia Madoo Lengermann, George Washington University

• Jill Niebrugge-Brantley, George Washington University