Don't Take It Personally: Personalness and Impersonality in Social Life
Eviatar Zerubavel
Jun 2024 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Stephen R. Thorne
headphones
Audiobook
3 hr 26 min
Unabridged
family_home
Eligible
info
reportRatings and reviews aren’t verified Learn More
Want a 20 min sample? Listen anytime, even offline.
Add
About this audiobook
Along with the concepts of social role, social group, social network, social class, and social structure, the notion of impersonality is one of the pillars of the sociological imagination: the ability to think beyond individuals and see them as members of particular social categories. Although almost every sociologist is at least implicitly cognizant of the fundamental contrast between personalness and impersonality, it has yet to be explicitly conceptualized. Don't Take It Personally comprehensively addresses the fundamental distinction between the specific and generic visions of personhood. Over the course of the book, Eviatar Zerubavel articulates the fundamental features of impersonality; the process of producing impersonality; the impersonal logic underlying the notion of individuals as countable quantities; the relationship between modernity and impersonality; and considers what is gained and what is lost by impersonalizing so much of social life. Drawing on fascinating examples from diverse social contexts, Don't Take It Personally introduces a general framework to better understand the deeper connection between seemingly disparate phenomena, from racial profiling and hate crimes to "secret Santa" gifting.
About the author
Eviatar Zerubavel is Board of Governors Distinguished Professor of Sociology Emeritus at Rutgers University. He is the author of thirteen books, and his work has been featured by numerous public media, including interviews on the BBC, the New York Times, Newsday, and NPR.
Stephen R. Thorne is a professional actor and a member of the Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, Rhode Island. He has played Hamlet, Henry V, and Tom Joad, among many other roles. Stephen has narrated over fifty audiobooks.
Rate this audiobook
Tell us what you think.
Listening information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can read books purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
