Ritual as a Missing Link: Sociology, Structural Ritualization Theory, and Research [Hardcover]

Up to now, ritual has been under-utilised for studying human behaviour. This book narrows the gap in our understanding of the social causes and consequences of our actions by focusing on the ritualised behaviours that define much of our daily lives. Knottnerus breaks new ground by comprehensively describing structural ritualistic theory. He shows how structural reproduction has occurred throughout the world, how rituals can be strategically used and how power can influence rituals, and how the disruption and reconstitution of ritual is of crucial importance for human beings. This book shows that ritual provides a missing link in sociology and helps us better explain the extreme complexity of human action and social reality.Shows how the ritualized behaviors that define much of our daily lives can explain of the social causes and consequences of our actions.Preface; Chapter 1 Understanding Rituals in Everyday Life; Chapter 2 Analysis of Ritual Dynamics; Chapter 3 Structural Reproduction in the World and Throughout History; Chapter 4 Strategic Ritualization and Power, J. David Knottnerus, Jean Van Delinder, Jennifer Edwards; Chapter 5 Disruption and Deritualization, Fr?d?rique Van de Poel-Knottnerus, J. David Knottnerus; Chapter 6 Ritual as a Missing Link Within Sociology; Chapter 7 Social and Personal Life;J. David Knottnerus is Professor of Sociology at Oklahoma State University. He earned an undergraduate degree in sociology from Beloit College and an M.A. and a Ph.D. in sociology from Southern Illinois UniversityCarbondale. Knottnerus has published in the areas of social theory, social psychology, group processes, social structure and inequality, and collective behavior/social movements. Most of his efforts in recent years have focused on the development of structural ritualization theory and research. He is currently the coeditorwith Bernard Phillipsof the series Advancing the Sociological Imagination, with Paradigm Publishers. His most recent books are, coedilí