Papers by Erika Summers-Effler
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ABSTRACT Why do people keep fighting for social causes in the face of consistent failure? Why do ... more ABSTRACT Why do people keep fighting for social causes in the face of consistent failure? Why do they risk their physical, emotional, and financial safety on behalf of strangers? How do these groups survive high turnover and emotional burnout? To explore these questions, Erika Summers Effler undertook three years of ethnographic fieldwork with two groups: antiâdeath penalty activists STOP and the Catholic Workers, who strive to alleviate poverty. In both communities, members must contend with problems that range from the broad to the intimately personal. Adverse political conditions, internal conflict, and fluctuations in financial resources create a backdrop of daily frustrationâbut watching an addict relapse or an inmateâs execution are much more devastating setbacks. Summers Effler finds that overcoming these obstacles, recovering from failure, and maintaining the integrity of the group require a constant process of emotional fine-tuning, and she demonstrates how activists do this through thoughtful analysis and a lucid rendering of their deeply affecting stories.
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University of Chicago Press eBooks, 2010
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University of Chicago Press eBooks, 2010
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University of Chicago Press eBooks, 2010
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Sex Roles, Jul 1, 2004
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Social Forces, Aug 27, 2015
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Social Forces, 2016
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In this chapter, we review the study of emotions in social movements. We begin by situating the a... more In this chapter, we review the study of emotions in social movements. We begin by situating the absence of emotions in Social Movement studies in relation to Sociology as a field more broadly. Then we review how scholars have theorized emotions in relation to social movement mobilization, commitment, and demobilization. Following this, we draw from studies within the field of Social Movements and the field of Sociology of Emotions to provide some useful ways to distinguish emotions analytically. Next, we draw from Cognitive Social Science, particularly literature on grounded cognition, to emphasize the need for situated analyses of emotion. Finally, we close with a few fruitful paths forward in the study of emotion in Social Movements.
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Advances in group processes, Jul 2, 2004
... The self-expansion model offers an important psychological piece to the emotional energy maxi... more ... The self-expansion model offers an important psychological piece to the emotional energy maximization model. ... to explain addictive behaviors as well, as there is evidence that addictions are ways of dealing with social emotions and anxiety (Endler & Kocovski, 2000; Golwyn & ...
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International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, Feb 1, 2002
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Symbolic Interaction, Aug 1, 2011
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Advances in group processes, Jul 2, 2004
ABSTRACT When individuals routinely lack access to interactions that build emotional energy (EE),... more ABSTRACT When individuals routinely lack access to interactions that build emotional energy (EE), they use indirect routes to maximize EE. They build strategies around attempting to minimize the loss of EE. I refer to these indirect routes as defensive strategies. Defensive strategies reflect what psychologists refer to as an internal locus of control – placing control over one’s circumstances within one’s self rather than outside in one’s environment. While an internal locus of control may help an individual to adapt to their current situation, it also helps to preserve the status quo. I focus on the case of staying with an abusive domestic partner as an illustration of the social dynamics that underlie apparently self-destructive behavior and the preservation of abusive interaction patterns, including: the formation of defensive strategies, the emotional and cognitive implications of relying on defensive strategies, the situations that are likely to lead to the cessation of defensive strategies in favor of proactive strategies, and the social implications of defensive strategies.
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Handbooks of sociology and social research, 2016
Recent research from cognitive social science reveals that early collective behavior theorists ha... more Recent research from cognitive social science reveals that early collective behavior theorists had more right than we tend to credit. This may come as a surprise given the rejection of early theories by the emergence of the social movements field and the coinciding rationalist turn. To break free of old ways of thinking, we use cognitive social science to revisit collective behavior theories with a renewed understanding of cognition and emotion. In so doing, we suggest the future of collective behavior is one which utilizes cognitive social science as the foundation from which theories can be rebuilt. We develop this chapter in four parts. First, we review the major approaches to categorizing collective behavior. Following, we trace the history of the major theoretical contributions and perspectives. We then revisit the prematurely dismissed theories in light of recent advances in cognitive social science with an emphasis on emotions, cognition, and action. Finally, we end the chapter with fruitful paths for the future of collective behavior by emphasizing a methodological approach and substantive areas which afford great potential for innovative theorizing.
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Springer eBooks, Feb 24, 2007
ABSTRACT Ritual theories assert that focused interaction, which these theories refer to as ritual... more ABSTRACT Ritual theories assert that focused interaction, which these theories refer to as ritual, is at the heart of all social dynamics. Rituals generate group emotions that are linked to symbols, forming the basis for beliefs, thinking, morality, and culture. People use the capacity for thought, beliefs, and strategy to create emotion-generating interactions in the future. This cycle, interaction → emotions → symbols → interaction, forms patterns of interaction over time. These patterns are the most basic structural force that organizes society.
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Building on Erving Goffman and Emile Durkheim, Randall Collins has demonstrated that situations h... more Building on Erving Goffman and Emile Durkheim, Randall Collins has demonstrated that situations have rules, processes, and constraints that are largely independent of more macro-social dynamics—this realm of action is referred to as the interaction order (Collins 2004; Goffrnan 1983). Collins's and Goffman's work on the interaction order illustrates how situations emerge and then shape and constrain action. We suggest this process of emergence and constraint can be further understood by explaining how action manifests as various types of involvement in situations. Specifically, we suggest that the different types of involvement manifest depending on how we focus our attention within situations. To understand how, why, and when we focus our attention, we must consider how cognition and emotion shape perception. Thus, we build on theories of cognition, emotion, and attention to explain how and when various sorts of social involvement emerge.
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American Journal of Sociology, Mar 1, 2006
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Handbooks of sociology and social research, 2021
In this chapter, I develop a model of the self as interpenetrating processes. This model draws on... more In this chapter, I develop a model of the self as interpenetrating processes. This model draws on the classical work of Pragmatists and Phenomenologists as well as current work in brain science. With this model, I detail how actors organize somatic, temporal, emotional, and symbolic information gathered from experience to anticipate unrolling contexts. Microsociologists and sociologists of culture pay considerable attention to cognition and the processing of symbols, particularly dual-process approaches to cognition. However, the body, time, and emotions are at least as essential as symbolic processing for understanding how the self works. This model of the self focuses on three processes: selfing, emminding, and contextualizing. Selfing describes how somatic, temporal, emotional, and symbolic information is organized, anticipated, accumulated, and reconciled. Emminding describes how situations precipitate out of the absorbing flow of action, creating keen conscious reflexive awareness. Emminding describes how meaning emerges when intense emotion marks unanticipated experiences with associations. Finally, contextualizing describes how we anticipate the future by gleaning somatic, temporal, emotional, and symbolic information from prior experiences. With this model of the self, I detail how these processes work and how they interpenetrate each other. To communicate these dynamics, I use the imagery of fluidity, specifically the stream of consciousness, how experiences precipitate out of that stream, and how contextualizing interacts with the environment to restore the flow of the stream following disruption.
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This dissertation is an investigation of altruistic groups. I studied the day-to-day interactions... more This dissertation is an investigation of altruistic groups. I studied the day-to-day interactions in altruistic social movement organizations in order to understand how members maintain intensity of involvement in these groups. My focus was on the process of maintaining the energy required to do the work, a sense of responsibility for others, commitment to the work, cooperation among group members, and the ability to deal with failure. The purpose of this study is to understand the emotional dynamics of groups, and how these group dynamics can motivate the production of collective goods, or drain people of their feelings of efficacy and enthusiasm. I conducted ethnographies within two altruistic social movement groups, a Catholic worker house and an anti-death penalty group, and used the comparison of findings from these ethnographic studies to develop theory about the role of face-to-face interaction in building group culture and generating group emotion. This research has significance for understanding the sources of emotional exhaustion or burn out associated with helping work, as well as the emotional dynamics and organizational patterns that support the continued efforts of charities, social movements, and other non-profits dedicated to helping others. The findings from this research are also relevant to the recent and increasing focus on the role of emotions in social life within the field of sociology
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Routledge eBooks, Feb 17, 2021
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Papers by Erika Summers-Effler