A sociology of existence for a late modern world. Basic assumptions and conceptual tools

Datos Bibliográficos

ID8976027
AutoresMarita Flisbäck (0000-0002-5611-6323, Department of Work Life and Social Welfare University of Borås Borås Sweden, autor de correspondencia), Mattias Bengtsson (0000-0003-3147-8712, Department of Sociology and Work Science University of Gothenburg Gothenburg Sweden)
Año2024
Volumen54
Número2
Páginas229-246
Fecha de publicación2024-02-15
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal for the Theory of Social Behaviour (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0021-8308 • E-ISSN: 1468-5914
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/jtsb.12416
OpenAlexW4391845573
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas54

In the present article, we outline basic assumptions and conceptual tools for a sociology of existence. First, we address man's fundamental conditions of existence: that life's finitude and encounters with the uncertainty of existence are fundamental experiences that construct social relations. Second, we outline how existential meaning‐making and the ability to cope with the unpredictability of life are dependent on power resources, where especially the resource poor may experience ‘existential nausea’. Third, we discuss how existential dilemmas may intensify under certain historical eras. Therefore, studying individuals' existential dilemmas is a tool to examine the dominant social issues at a particular time and place. Fourth, we elaborate on the importance of studying turning points during individuals' life courses, as existential meaning – or lack thereof – becomes particularly salient at these times. This includes an understanding that death and rebirth are experienced in the form of various endings and beginnings in everyday life. Fifth, and finally, we emphasize an analysis in which the direction of people's lives is conceptualized in a broad time perspective, where past, present, and future interact and influence life choices and social relations constructed during a lifetime

Construct (python library · Epistemology · Everyday life · Existentialism · Meaning (existential · Perspective (graphical · Political science · Resource (disambiguation · Salient · Sociology · Computer Science · Emile Durkheim and Sociology · Law · Philosophy · Religion and Society Interactions · Weber, Simmel, Sociological Theory