It is commonly assumed that capitalism has created an a-emotionalworld dominated by bureaucratic rationality; that economic behaviorconflicts with intimate, authentic relationships; that the publicand private spheres are irremediably opposed to each other; andthat true love is opposed to calculation and self-interest.
Eva Illouz rejects these conventional ideas and argues that theculture of capitalism has fostered an intensely emotional culturein the workplace, in the family, and in our own relationship toourselves. She argues that economic relations have become deeplyemotional, while close, intimate relationships have becomeincreasingly defined by economic and political models ofbargaining, exchange, and equity. This dual process by whichemotional and economic relationships come to define and shape eachother is called emotional capitalism. Illouz finds evidence of thisprocess of emotional capitalism in various social sites: self-helpliterature, women’s magazines, talk shows, support groups, and the Internet dating sites. How did this happen? What are the socialconsequences of the current preoccupation with emotions? How didthe public sphere become saturated with the exposure of privatelife? Why does suffering occupy a central place in contemporaryidentity? How has emotional capitalism transformed our romanticchoices and experiences? Building on and revising the intellectuallegacy of critical theory, this book addresses these questions andoffers a new interpretation of the reasons why the public and theprivate, the economic and the emotional spheres have becomeinextricably intertwined.
Jadual kandungan
Acknowledgments vi
1 The Rise of Homo Sentimentalis 1
Freud and the Clark lectures 5
A new emotional style 16
The communicative ethic as the spirit of the corporation 18
The roses and thorns of the modern family 24
Conclusion 36
2 Suffering, Emotional Fields, and Emotional Capital 40
Introduction 40
The self-realization narrative 43
Emotional fields, emotional habitus 62
The pragmatics of psychology 67
Conclusion 71
3 Romantic Webs 74
Romancing the Internet 75
Virtual meetings 76
Ontological self-presentation 79
Fantasy and disappointment 95
Conclusion: A new Machiavellian move 108
Notes 115
Index 130
Mengenai Pengarang
E. Illouz, Professor of Sociology, The Hebrew University of Jersalem