Mikaela Sundberg

This is a book about the tensions between Christian ideals of love and the concrete realities of everyday monastic life. Based on a study of Cistercian monasteries in France, it develops a novel conceptualization of fraternal relations and addresses how monks and nuns strive to accomplish such relationships within their communities. By focusing on the main interaction contexts of monasteries as a form of voluntary total institution, the book shows how attempts to generate collective solidarity, relate to other members as equals and avoid preferential relations conflict with practices of everyday life. Although fraternal ideals are similar for monks and nuns, the analysis reveals significant gender differences regarding the legitimacy of different forms of interaction and relationships as well as how to control them. The book appeals to readers with an interest in total institutions, sociology of religion, sociology of friendship, sociology of intimacy and also to scholars with an interest in theology of love and practical theology.

This is a book about the tensions between Christian ideals of love and the concrete realities of everyday monastic life. Based on a study of Cistercian monasteries in France, it develops a novel conceptualization of fraternal relations and addresses how monks and nuns strive to accomplish such relationships within their communities. By focusing on the main interaction contexts of monasteries as a form of voluntary total institution, the book shows how attempts to generate collective solidarity, relate to other members as equals and avoid preferential relations conflict with practices of everyday life. Although fraternal ideals are similar for monks and nuns, the analysis reveals significant gender differences regarding the legitimacy of different forms of interaction and relationships as well as how to control them. The book appeals to readers with an interest in total institutions, sociology of religion, sociology of friendship, sociology of intimacy and also to scholars with an interest in theology of love and practical theology.

Examining the organization of everyday life inside the regiments of the French Foreign Legion, this book takes its theoretical point of departure in the notion of the voluntary total organization; that is to say, an institution that constitutes a geographically delimited place of residence and work in which inmates are voluntarily separated from the outside world, leading an enclosed, formally administered life. Informed by a modified version of Goffman's original concept of the total institution, A Sociology of the Total Organization untangles the Foreign Legion and the ways in which different kinds of social orders interplay there. With a focus on regimental life, the author characterizes the armed forces not only as a total organization, but also as a greedy one, seeking undivided loyalty and the incorporation of all social roles within its bounds. Against this understanding, the book draws on rich ethnographic work to develop the notion of atomistic unity, the ideal relational condition that exists in the military, in which individuals commit to a unit and articulate ties with individuals on an impersonal basis, grounded in the belief in a greater whole. A detailed and empirically grounded study of the mechanisms in which the Foreign Legion not only cuts members' ties to people outside the organization, but also restricts the creation and maintenance of ties among its members, this book shows how atomistic unity is not limited to greedy organizations such as the military, but applies to a variety of collectivist settings. As such, it will appeal to scholars of sociology and anthropology with interests in military life, social relations, social theory and the work of Goffman.

Den här boken är en hyllning till skönlitteraturens rikedom och till den sociologiska fantasin. Skönlitteraturen illustrerar samhällsvetenskapliga kärnresonemang, den väcker nya frågor om människans existentiella villkor och den sprider nytt ljus över vårt sätt att se på världen. Men trots att samhällsvetenskapen kan sägas ha uppstått under samma epok som den moderna litteraturen, och trots att de har fascinationen inför samhället och det s­ociala samspelet gemensamt, så har skönlitteraturen märkligt nog inte någon naturlig plats i samhällsvetarens verktygslåda. Sociologi genom litteratur tjänar både som en reflektion över samhällsvetenskapens egenart och som en inbjudan till samhällsvetare att använda skönlitteraturen som ett fönster mot den sociala verkligheten. Bokens redaktörer, Christofer Edling och Jens Rydgren, är professorer i sociologi vid Lunds respektive Stockholms universitet. Författarna representerar flera generationer av i dag verksamma svenska sociologer. Medverkande författare: Ola Agevall, Göran Ahrne, Patrik Aspers, Reza Azarian, Paavo Bergman, Stina Bergman Blix, Alexandra Bogren, Christofer Edling, Hedvig Ekerwald, Marie Evertsson, Mats Franzén, Magnus Haglunds, Carl-Göran Heidegren, Antoinette Hetzler, Bo Isenberg, Magnus Karlsson, Jonas Lindström, Gunnar Olofsson, Anders Persson, Abby Peterson, Jens Rydgren, Lambros Roumbanis, Lisbeth Stenberg, Lotta Stern, Mikaela Sundberg, Stefan Svallfors, Richard Swedberg, Maria Törnqvist, Denny Vågerö, Åsa Wettergren, Malin Åkerström.

Examining the organization of everyday life inside the regiments of the French Foreign Legion, this book takes its theoretical point of departure in the notion of the voluntary total organization; that is to say, an institution that constitutes a geographically delimited place of residence and work in which inmates are voluntarily separated from the outside world, leading an enclosed, formally administered life. Informed by a modified version of Goffman's original concept of the total institution, A Sociology of the Total Organization untangles the Foreign Legion and the ways in which different kinds of social orders interplay there. With a focus on regimental life, the author characterizes the armed forces not only as a total organization, but also as a greedy one, seeking undivided loyalty and the incorporation of all social roles within its bounds. Against this understanding, the book draws on rich ethnographic work to develop the notion of atomistic unity, the ideal relational condition that exists in the military, in which individuals commit to a unit and articulate ties with individuals on an impersonal basis, grounded in the belief in a greater whole. A detailed and empirically grounded study of the mechanisms in which the Foreign Legion not only cuts members' ties to people outside the organization, but also restricts the creation and maintenance of ties among its members, this book shows how atomistic unity is not limited to greedy organizations such as the military, but applies to a variety of collectivist settings. As such, it will appeal to scholars of sociology and anthropology with interests in military life, social relations, social theory and the work of Goffman.