Erving Goffman has always seen as somewhat of an enigma by sociologists and historians of the discipline. In his provocative new book Erving Goffman and the Cold War (2023, Lexington) Gary Jaworski suggests a ‘marginal man’ trope has grown up around him, whereby Goffman is seen as an outsider, unconnected to broader debates in sociology and to the events happening around him as he wrote. Seeking to overcome this trope, Jaworski presents him instead as a sociologist ‘in, and of’ the cold war. This involves looking anew at Goffman’s work, moving away from the more frequently used concepts and looking at less studied metaphors in his work such as loyalty, provocation and secrecy. Here we see how Goffman was a perceptive sociologist of cold war America and, in so doing, can explore his connections to cold warriors, on both sides of the divide.

In our conversation we explore the ways in which looking at Goffman’s work via the cold war allows us to understand some of the underappreciated greatness of his work. Topics discussed include why lesser known texts such as Strategic Interaction and Where the Action Is are so important, the role that spies play in his work and why Goffman was such a fan of post-WWII satire.

Your host, Matt Dawson is Professor of Sociology at the University of Glasgow and the author of G.D.H. Cole and British Sociology: A Study in Semi-Alienation (2024, Palgrave Macmillan), along with other texts.

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Audun Kjus joins Jana Byars to talk about Adventures in the Play-Ritual Continuum (Utah State Press, 2025), eds. Audun Kjus, Jakob Löfgren, Cliona O’Carroll, Simon Poole & Ida Tolgensbakk. Utah State Press, 2025).

The junctions between play and ritual are many and complex. Play is for fun and joy, but it also demands a total commitment and serious respect for rules. Rituals involve nearly endless varieties of social arrangements and can truly transform people, but they also include improvisation, testing, and pretending. Adventures in the Play-Ritual Continuum explores the connectivity between the playful and the ritualized through a fresh theoretical perspective, highlighting the creative messiness and the cultural paradoxes such intersections allow. The chapters span topics such as hen parties, marriage proposals, ash scatterings, extreme sports races, football fans, computer game festivals, celebrations of fandom, migration heritages, and antiracist protests. While the case studies are selected to show a range of diversity with various mergings of play, game, ritual, ceremony, rite, and ritualizing, the introductory and concluding discussions offer sharpened perspectives on common aspects. Following these excursions through the play-ritual continuum will be enjoyable for readers interested in how people make sense of their own existence and profitable for scholars in folklore, anthropology, religion, pedagogy, cultural studies, and social sciences and humanities more generally.

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Perversions of the Market: Sadism, Masochism, and the Culture of Capitalism (SUNY Press, 2024) argues that capitalism fosters sadism and masochism--not as individual psychological proclivities but as widespread institutionalized patterns of behavior. The book is divided into two parts: one historical and the other theoretical. In the first, Eugene W. Holland shows how, as capital becomes global in scale and drives production and consumption farther and farther apart, it perverts otherwise free markets, transforming sadism and masochism into borderline conditions and various supremacisms. The second part then turns to Deleuze and Guattari's 'schizoanalysis,' explaining how it helpfully embeds Freud's analysis of the family and Lacan's analysis of language within an analysis of the capitalist market and its psycho-dynamics. Drawing on literature and film throughout to illuminate the discontents of modern culture, Holland maintains that the sadistic relations of production and masochistic relations of consumption must be eliminated to prevent capitalism from destroying life as we know it.

Nathan Smith is a PhD candidate in Music Theory at Yale University

[email protected]

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The Hare Krishnas have long been associated with American hippie culture and New Age religious movements. But they have developed deeply rooted communities in India and throughout the world over the past 50 years. Known officially as the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), this once-marginal religious community now wields vast economic assets, political influence, and a posh identity endorsed by Indian business tycoons and Bollywood celebrities. 

Bringing Krishna Back to India (Oxford UP, 2024) examines this globalized religious community in Mumbai, India's business and entertainment capital, where ISKCON draws Indians from diverse backgrounds to adopt a socially conservative Krishna bhakti identity amidst a neoliberal megacity and the city's famed cosmopolitanism. As ISKCON fashions devout religious identities amidst urban spaces, such as college campuses, corporate wellness retreats, and Bollywood celebrity events, it promotes a religious Hindu modernity that reflects elite urban Indian aspirations and aesthetic

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In this episode of Madison's Notes, Jonathan Haidt, renowned social psychologist and author, dives deep into the impact of digital saturation on today's youth, drawing insights from his latest book, The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness (Allen Lane, 2024). The discussion explores how growing up immersed in social media, video games, and smart technology is reshaping young people’s sense of self and influencing their political engagement. Haidt explains how the constant connectivity may be contributing to an increase in anxiety and how it’s altering their approach to both personal identity and societal participation.

Haidt also addresses the potential for a "generational war," where differences between older and younger generations are often framed as inherent character flaws. He emphasizes the importance of understanding that many of Gen Z’s choices have been shaped by forces beyond their control, rather than pointing to a moral failing. This leads into a comparison with the themes explored in The Coddling of the American Mind, particularly the societal impact of overprotection and the lack of resilience-building among youth.

The conversation then moves into practical territory, with Haidt discussing the importance of activating the brain’s inhibition system to help young people develop resilience and the ability to handle stress, conflict, and complex decision-making. He suggests that cultivating the inhibition system through thoughtful practices is key in fostering more resilient and independent young adults.

Finally, Haidt examines the role of tech giants like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg in shaping the digital landscape and their growing political influence. He discusses the challenges of addressing the negative impacts of social media, pondering whether government intervention will result in meaningful change or if the influence of tech leaders will prevent any real reform.

This episode provides a compelling exploration of how technology, societal norms, and political dynamics intersect to shape the lives of younger generations and offers valuable insight into the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for both youth and society at large.

Madison’s Notes is the podcast of Princeton University’s James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions.

Contributions to and/or sponsorship of any speaker does not constitute departmental or institutional endorsement of the specific program, speakers or views presented.

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In Political Voice: Protest, Democracy, and Marginalised Groups (Oxford UP, 2024), Aidan McGarry examines the agency of marginalised people, emphasizing the processes through which different communities around the world articulate their political voices. McGarry develops an innovative concept of political voice around three elements: autonomy, representation, and constitution. This conceptualization is illustrated through contemporary case studies of two persecuted and silenced groups: LGBTIQ activists in India and Roma mobilization in Europe.

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Today I spoke to Dr. Carl Waitz about his new book Youth Mental Health Crises and the Broken Social Link: A Freudian-Lacanian Perspective (Routledge, 2024).

“The kids are not ok” blurbs Patricia Gherovici in her endorsement of Dr. Waitz’ necessary new book. We know this. On the weekend we recorded this interview (February 9, 2025) the New York Times published research[1] showing national trendlines from 1990-2024. Rates of depression and suicide; up. Life expectancy and satisfaction; down. Dr. Waitz cites data from 2015-2020 showing suicide as the second leading cause of death for youth ages 10-14. In discussion with colleagues at other hospitals they recognize that these numbers are “striking”. The topic of youth mental health has been on Dr. Waitz’ mind for a long time starting “as far back as when I first started working with adolescents. Even before I and went to graduate school for psychology.” Dr. Waitz’ clinical experience with this material over the years is evident in this thoughtfully researched book. When he and his wife were expecting their “first kid” he realized that “this was starting to be a personal topic in addition to a professional one.” This is a deeply felt book. So was this interview. No matter where we were in our talk I associated to my current cases. Cases of youth in crisis. They cannot be discussed here. So we weaved in and out of the text. Sometimes exploring theory broadly. Sometimes specifically. All our discussion leading to the clinical question, what does psychoanalysis have to offer? We addressed this by discussing two passages near the end of the book.

“Without the fantasy of a sexual rapport any longer, there is no easily available limit on jouissance and this is precisely why the panoply of solutions called the youth mental health crisis (suicide, self-injury, depression, identification with the stigma of diagnosis, and political polarization are substitutionary, if not contrary to the formation of a social link.” (p.180)

“The challenges of psychoanalysis are greater than merely navigating its own exigencies. If it is to have anything to say about the youth mental health crisis, it must find a way of engaging with a non-psychoanalytic society. With this in mind, how can psychoanalysis a practice focused on a singular subject approach a problem of desire - itself a consequence of a loss of initiation rites at a social level while maintaing it's "non desire to cure" (p.175)

As readers of clinical and theoretical literature recognize, analysts tend to shy away from declarative statements preferring to swim in the open waters of the unknown. I was pleased to end the interview by asking Dr. Waitz about his bold declaration, “There is no question more revealing of one's worldview then why one conceived a child one's religion or economics hold no candle to this question.” (p.100)

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2025/0...

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The relationship between fear people experience in their lives and the government often informs key questions about the rule of law and justice. In nations where the rule of law is unevenly applied, interpreting the people involved in its enforcement allows for contextualized understanding about why that unevenness occurs and is perpetuated.

Joshua Barker’s State of Fear: Policing a Postcolonial City published by Duke University Press (2024) examines policing in Bandung, the capital city of the province of West Java in Indonesia, to show how fear and violence are produced and reproduced. He makes analysis of the emergence of informal and formal forms of political order in Bandung based on ethnographic and historical evidence about neighborhood watch groups, street-level toughs, vigilantes, and people in the police, from clerks to officers. This book provides a compelling interpretive framework for understanding episodes of violence and different forms of authority in Indonesian state-society relations as it does for many other parts of the world where unresolved colonial legacies shape the production of policing.

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What is the connection between fan culture and feminism? In Media Fandom, Digital Feminisms, and Tumblr (Bloomsbury, 2023), Briony Hannell, a lecturer in sociology at the University of Manchester, explores the intersection of fandom, in a variety of forms, and feminist discourses on social media. Using an in-depth case study of Tumblr, the book charts the creation of a community of feminist fans, showing how the sense of being a feminist and belonging to a digital community are created and maintained online. The analysis also reflects on how this community includes and excludes particular social groups, showing the potential and the limits of digital spaces for feminist ideas and activities. A vital intervention at a moment where social media spaces are being transformed in various ways, the book is essential reading for anyone interested in understanding the contemporary digital world.

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The pernicious social impact of social media platforms is a matter of global concern, as this digital technology has become a breeding ground for the proliferation of various forms of online harassment and abuse.However, the majority of studies exploring this phenomenon have been conducted in Anglophone social contexts (particularly the US and UK). In light of this imbalance, in Hate speech and abusive behaviour on social media: A cross-cultural perspective (Vernon Press, 2024), Luiz Valério Trindade aims to address this research gap by examining hate speech and abusive behavior in the Hispanophone, Portuguesophone, and Italianophone worlds. His research explores how cultural norms and language use influence the manifestation and impact of online harassment and abuse.

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