School of Social and Political Science

Description

Title: Egalitarianism as an interaction order phenomenon: A Goffmanian re-interpretation of elites’ ordinariness

Abstract:

When people of privilege portray themselves as down-to-earth, sociologists typically interpret it through cultural/moral repertoires of tolerance/egalitarianism. Repertoires are used indiscriminately to explain general modesty, public appearance, and face-to-face interaction (cross-class encounters). Through Erving Goffman’s theories, I recalibrate our understanding of elite ordinariness/egalitarianism. For social encounters, I suggest we treat the downplaying of hierarchies as a phenomenon of the interaction order, which with Goffman, exists «sui generis»: reducible neither to structures nor to dispositions. Downplaying differences in social encounters has clear but neglected affinities with Goffman’s interaction ritual. It is inherent in facework (i.e., mutual efforts to safeguard selves in interaction). I show this by reviewing empirical studies that highlight the downplaying of differences/hierarchies in social encounters, and then reinterpreting them through Goffman’s theories. Keeping the interaction order apart from other forms of egalitarianism/ordinariness holds undetected promise for the study of class, comparative analysis not the least.