Social Magic A conceptual framework for a re-developed positive sociology

• In Event: Joint Roundtables: Social Psychology Section and Sociology of Emotions Section
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Table 1 - Morality, Collective Energy, & Prosocial Behavior

Abstract

Sociology, as an academic discipline, has been preoccupied with analyzing social problems. It has focused on the ills of human societies, often through a critical and pessimistic lens associated with pathological connotations. Yet most of what takes place in society, and makes it function, is positive and constructive. The productive sides of sociality are however less attended to by sociologist. This imbalance in sociological inquiry calls for a narrative corrective. This paper seeks to extend and further develop the paradigm of positive sociology, first introduced by Robert Stebbins in 2009. While positive sociology has mainly focused on leisure and happiness, this paper argues that it must also account for the underlying human and social mechanisms of everyday life, which constitutes the sui generis realities of human societies. I propose that those mechanisms, rooted in everyday taken-for-granted social interaction, can be theorized through the novel application of the concept of social magic. First, the paper reviews the origins and current status of the positive sociology paradigm. Second, it introduces social magic as a core concept within this developing paradigm. Third, it demonstrates the positive power of social magic across subfields of positive sociology, such as the sociology of rituals, sociology of emotions and perceptions, and the sociology of excellence and achievement. Each of these domains of positive sociology, through different levels of analysis, relies on mundane interaction rituals that, when accumulated emerge in the form of social magic, which generates the collective energies sustaining human and societal flourishing. In this sense, social magic exemplifies the positive power of human association and thus offers a foundational concept for advancing the paradigm of positive sociology to various social endeveours and activities.

Author

• Vidar Halldorsson, University of Iceland