Where Isn't the Action?

Session Title

Session 2-2-D: Ethics and Gambling Development

Presentation Type

Event

Location

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada

Start Date

29-5-2019 11:00 AM

End Date

29-5-2019 12:25 PM

Disciplines

Social Control, Law, Crime, and Deviance | Social Psychology and Interaction | Sociology of Culture

Abstract

This paper responds to the suggestion by Dmitri Shalin (2016) that the “momentous changes that have transformed the entertainment and gaming industry call for further investigation into the evolving status of fateful action.” Where Erving Goffman stated that “gambling is the prototype of action,” he did not distinguish among types of gambling or their characterological implications. Since Goffman’s time, gambling in various forms has become ubiquitous and embedded into everyday life. As such, this embeddedness suggests not only the widespread availability of action, but that what Goffman referred to as “character” needs to be rethought for these changed conditions. Further, the paper will take up the availability and pursuit of action in other domains of life, particularly insofar as late modern life has been shaped by various effects of financialization.

Shalin, Dmitri N. 2106. “Erving Goffman, Fateful Action, and the Las Vegas Gambling Scene,” UNLV Gaming Research and Review April 20 (1): 1-38

Keywords

action, gambling, character, Goffman, risk, late modernity

Author Bios

James Cosgrave has research interests in the sociology of gambling, and the role of the state in the development of gambling markets. He is the editor of The Sociology of Risk and Gambling Reader, and co-editor of Casino State: Legalized Gambling in Canada.

Funding Sources

I will be requesting funding for an International Travel Grant from Trent University. The funding body has no involvement with any aspect of the research.

Competing Interests

No competing interests.

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May 29th, 11:00 AM May 29th, 12:25 PM

Where Isn't the Action?

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada

This paper responds to the suggestion by Dmitri Shalin (2016) that the “momentous changes that have transformed the entertainment and gaming industry call for further investigation into the evolving status of fateful action.” Where Erving Goffman stated that “gambling is the prototype of action,” he did not distinguish among types of gambling or their characterological implications. Since Goffman’s time, gambling in various forms has become ubiquitous and embedded into everyday life. As such, this embeddedness suggests not only the widespread availability of action, but that what Goffman referred to as “character” needs to be rethought for these changed conditions. Further, the paper will take up the availability and pursuit of action in other domains of life, particularly insofar as late modern life has been shaped by various effects of financialization.

Shalin, Dmitri N. 2106. “Erving Goffman, Fateful Action, and the Las Vegas Gambling Scene,” UNLV Gaming Research and Review April 20 (1): 1-38