Berserk!: Anger and the Charismatic Populism of Donald Trump

This paper explores the role anger plays in charismatic movements. Although scholars have long recognized the importance of emotions to the etiology of charisma, they tend to focus on mutual affection among leaders and followers, paying less attention to how anger—and particularly its subspecies, ressentiment—patterns charismatic power. Drawing on literature from political science, populism research, and the cultural sociology of charisma, we argue that ressentiment, which is associated with self-disvalue and an invidious need to blame outsiders, is key to theorizing the emotional energy that charisma delivers to revolutionary upheaval. The Weberian source for the intervention is his lesser known concept of ‘berserk-charisma’. Reorienting the focus of charisma research to account for its aggressive, ‘outward’ dimension has the benefit of drawing us closer to the vision Weber had for its social-historical relevance. We demonstrate our insights using the case of charismatic/populist support for Trump.

Editorial – Fulfilling the purpose of a rich, productive, and successful 2021. And preparing for an as much as possible, definitely “true normal” 2022

Dear readers, students, fellow scholars, welcome to this tenth instalment of Mutual Images Journal, which we have titled “Aesthetic journeys and media pilgrimages in the contexts of pop culture and the creative industries from and to East Asia”, trying to subsume in it the variety of themes the volume hosts. Audaces fortuna iuvat The Latin adage of this introduction states: “good luck helps the daring ones”. We think this is what happened to us and Mutual Images, both the journal and the association as a whole. We had left 2020 with more than just the proverbial mixed feelings: we were all uncertain and confused about what would and could happen in 2021. We won’t give you a summary of the many facets of what 2020 has been for the world, because each of you knows that all too well. But for MIRA, at least, 2021 was a moment of rally and refocus on what we hold dear: research, publishing, and the careful organisation of workshops and similar events. We rolled up our sleeves as so many people around the world did, and, in our microcosm of transcultural research in the humanities, media, cultural sociology, and area studies — whether supported by universities or independently run — we brought home two very nice workshops and a summer school. One workshop was held in Italy and Spain in November 2020 and the other in Japan in January 2021, although, for obvious reasons, both were technically conducted mainly online; and the summer school took place on-site in China, in June 2021. The two workshops saw [...]

Editorial – Fulfilling the purpose of a rich, productive, and successful 2021. And preparing for an as much as possible, definitely “true normal” 2022

Dear readers, students, fellow scholars, welcome to this tenth instalment of Mutual Images Journal, which we have titled “Aesthetic journeys and media pilgrimages in the contexts of pop culture and the creative industries from and to East Asia”, trying to subsume in it the variety of themes the volume hosts. Audaces fortuna iuvat The Latin adage of this introduction states: “good luck helps the daring ones”. We think this is what happened to us and Mutual Images, both the journal and the association as a whole. We had left 2020 with more than just the proverbial mixed feelings: we were all uncertain and confused about what would and could happen in 2021. We won’t give you a summary of the many facets of what 2020 has been for the world, because each of you knows that all too well. But for MIRA, at least, 2021 was a moment of rally and refocus on what we hold dear: research, publishing, and the careful organisation of workshops and similar events. We rolled up our sleeves as so many people around the world did, and, in our microcosm of transcultural research in the humanities, media, cultural sociology, and area studies — whether supported by universities or independently run — we brought home two very nice workshops and a summer school. One workshop was held in Italy and Spain in November 2020 and the other in Japan in January 2021, although, for obvious reasons, both were technically conducted mainly online; and the summer school took place on-site in China, in June 2021. The two workshops saw [...]

“All they do is walk”: Successful aging and symbolic boundaries among a self-organized mall walkers club

Objectives This study examines how successful aging discourse manifests through physical and social participation among members of a self-organized mall walkers club. There is a paucity of research investigating successful aging in situ and theorizing the relationship between successful aging discourse and community participation. I draw on symbolic boundaries—a concept from cultural sociology—as a way to make sense of what mall walkers say and do. Methods I draw on data from 15 months of participant observations and interviews of mall walkers, all of whom are over 65 and predominantly Caribbean-Canadian women Results I identify three common boundaries: personal, interpersonal, and community, that mall walkers draw on to challenge narratives of decline and internalize dimensions of successful aging. Discussion These findings uncover the ways members in a self-organized community reinforce boundaries that highlight how certain dimensions of successful aging as something to be proud of and desirable. This article contributes to research on intersubjective experiences of aging by revealing how successful aging is rooted in community participation, rather than individual achievement.

Cultural Sociology and the Politics of Canonization: An Anglo-Canadian Perspective

This article offers a regional spotlight introduction to Anglo-Canadian cultural sociology. The question of what makes Canada unique has long preoccupied Canadian writers, artists, and policy makers, and is central to scholarly debates about Canadian sociology’s position relative to British, American, and other national sociologies, as well as the need for decolonization and diversification of the disciplinary canon. As a subfield, Anglo-Canadian cultural sociology receives little attention within these wider debates despite its emphasis on issues of cultural difference, identity, and evaluation. We provide an analysis of the dynamics of the field. Using course syllabi and survey data from instructors (N = 28), we examine whether there is a unique canon in Anglo-Canadian cultural sociology, and how cultural sociology is taught across Canada. Network analysis of texts assigned on syllabi and survey responses from cultural sociology instructors reveal, first, a thematic canon in Canadian cultural sociology, with a plurality of authors used to teach four main themes: identity and representation, cultural production, cultural consumption, and conceptualizing and measuring culture. Second, we find the positionality of Anglo-Canadian cultural sociology (with respect to both other national sociologies and neighboring subfields/disciplines) is uncertain and widely variant. Finally, survey responses concerning identity and representation suggest a reflexivity about the politics of canonization, and a gendered interest in decolonizing curricula. We conclude by arguing that a thematic canon in cultural sociology facilitates the maintenance of fuzzy boundaries with other subfields, national and Indigenous intellectual traditions, and a critical feminist lens.

Tastes, emotions, and social cohesion: Toward a cultural theory of social exchange

The Affect Theory of Social Exchange (ATSE) research program has produced cumulative insights on how instrumental exchanges lead to the development of affectual attachments. With its focus on task responsibilities, ATSE leaves space to interrogate how factors not related to task execution are at play in the production of interpersonal bonds. In this paper, we integrate insights from social psychology, cultural sociology and organizational research to develop a theoretical framework suggesting (a) why and how cultural tastes contribute to social cohesion and (b) the conditions under which cultural tastes remain a source of strategic advantage or, worse, symbolic exclusion. Our theory rests on the basic proposition that shared cultural tastes increase the likelihood of experiencing positive emotions, which in turn are key in the development and maintenance of affectual attachments. Variations to this proposition are subsequently introduced, considering culture in declarative and nondeclarative forms.

La “Plaza de la Dignidad” como escenario de protesta. La dimensión cultural en la comprensión del acontecimiento de Octubre chileno

How did cultural factors participate in the event of October in Chile? How were these factors related to each other? What implications did they have for collective action and social life? The purpose of the article is to carry out a cultural reading of the October event. To do this, a dialogue is proposed between cultural sociology and cultural studies, applied to the October protest movement, resorting to interpretive research tools. The appropriation of Plaza Italia, in Santiago, by the protesters, is used in an illustrative way to highlight the cultural elements and their interactions. Among the findings, the production of meaning based on motifs and frames stands out, the production of its own symbolism and iconography and the deployment of performances that allow defining the Plaza itself as an artifact of protest. Then certain scopes of the above for civil society are discussed. It concludes with a projection of the work and a brief reflection on the relationship between social sciences and humanities to deploy an interpretive strategy of empirical research.

Live and let live? Morality in symbolic boundaries across different cultural areas

This article examines morality in taste judgements. In response to Bourdieu’s analysis of France in the 1960s, sociologists note that repertoires of moral evaluation vary across contexts. They typically highlight national variations, like Nordic egalitarianism weakens cultural boundaries, and temporal variations, with transformed values having made cultural hierarchies less defensible. The article investigates a neglected type of moral variation: contrasting cultural areas. In a study of class and culture in Stavanger, Norway, the authors combined oral interviews on taste with photo elicitation in the visual arts, literature and housing/architecture. While interviewees were often careful not to appear disdainful of other people’s tastes, and expressed ambivalence about cultural boundaries, their thoughts on housing/architecture diverged. Here, people did not hesitate to criticise other people’s taste, even to the point of ridiculing their houses. The authors discuss the implications for Lamont’s symbolic boundary perspective, which is predicated on a separation of three types of symbolic boundaries (cultural, socioeconomic, moral). Morality can both weaken and reinforce cultural boundaries, depending on the areas under investigation. In conclusion, the authors suggest ways cultural sociology may conceive of different moral modalities.

Iovănel’s Sociology and the Utility of Pop Culture. Analyzing the Contemporary Understanding of Literary Marginality in Romania

This article analyzes the role of cultural sociology and elements of pop culture when exploring the current relationship between Romanian literature and the world literary system. I use Mihai Iovănel’s work (his recent History, as well as previous research) as a springboard into a discussion about the paradoxes and the disputes characterizing contemporary World Literature studies and I argue that his employment of materialism and cultural sociology alike helps move past some of the blind spots of the discipline. The final section of the article then shows that Iovănel’s focus on popular culture also informs his understanding of literary circulation, highlighting its unpredictable and non-linear nature.