Editors

Dmitri N. Shalin

Document Type

Monograph

Publication Date

8-1-2008

Publication Title

Bios Sociologicus: The Erving Goffman Archives

Publisher

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

First page number:

1

Last page number:

39

Abstract

This paper examines the interfaces between Erving Goffman’s biography and theory. It rests on the premise that Goffman’s Behavior in Public Places can be profitably explored in light of Goffman’s behavior in public places, and vice versa. The tentative conclusion I have reached after examining available biographical accounts is that Goffman was a student of civility whose standards he flouted, that his demeanor was sometimes intentionally demeaning, his deference willfully deferred, and his incivility painfully obvious to those present. The argument is made that Goffman’s infringements on the interaction order were strategic, systematic, theoretically significant, and worthy of close study by interactionist sociologists.

Keywords

Biography; Goffman; Erving; Human behavior; Social interaction; Sociologists

Disciplines

Politics and Social Change | Social Psychology and Interaction | Sociology

Language

English

Publisher Citation

Bios Sociologicus: The Erving Goffman Archives, ed. by Dmitri N. Shalin (UNLV: CDC Publications, 2009).

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