Review: Christian von Scheve (2009). Emotionen und soziale Strukturen – Die affektiven Grundlagen sozialer Ordnung [Emotions and Social Structure – The Affective Foundation of the Social System]

Abstract

In this work—his PhD thesis—Christian VON SCHEVE examines the connections between emotions and social structures. From a sociological viewpoint and taking into account findings from the neurosciences and cognitive psychology, he seeks to answer the question of how, on the one hand, are emotions susceptible to influences from the social environment, and on the other, do they generate social structure themselves. By presenting many empirical findings, the author succeeds in exemplifying relevant mechanisms. Although one cannot expect to find definitive answers to these questions, VON SCHEVE'S work offers a rich contribution to discussions on the micro-macro link, as well as questions of human agency. At present, research on emotions by social scientists is an emerging field, which this review seeks to illustrate. Another aim of this review is to show which discussions can be enriched by debating the elements of this work. URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs1101287