Six Memos for the Current Time. Rethinking six contemporary sociological matters in light of the emotional dynamics shaping them

This contribution is inspired by Italo Calvino’s Harvard Lectures which should had been hold at Harvard in 1986 and were never delivered because of Calvino’s sudden and premature death. Calvino began his American lectures with a series of reflections on six qualities that he considered essential for...

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Main Author: Alessandro Pratesi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Firenze University Press 2023-03-01
Series:Cambio
Subjects:
Online Access:https://oaj.fupress.net/index.php/cambio/article/view/13862
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author Alessandro Pratesi
author_facet Alessandro Pratesi
author_sort Alessandro Pratesi
collection DOAJ
description This contribution is inspired by Italo Calvino’s Harvard Lectures which should had been hold at Harvard in 1986 and were never delivered because of Calvino’s sudden and premature death. Calvino began his American lectures with a series of reflections on six qualities that he considered essential for good literature and then broadened his reflections to other (no strictly literary) dimensions of our existence. This article is based on a series of reflections on six sociological subjects that I consider essential to frame the recent pandemic, and then it extends such reflections to other realms of our everyday life. Care, Welfare, Death, Politics, Europe, and Marginality: the common denominator of these different key sociological subject matters is represented by emotions and their too often unacknowledged role in interpreting and explaining contemporary phenomena. They have been chosen as they represent a number of core themes which are considered key to help us demarcating the field of our critical analyses of the pandemic, but also because they epitomise paradigmatic contexts where the political relevance of emotional dynamics vividly emerge. In this sense, the main goal of this contribution is to invite scholars from different disciplinary perspectives to further investigate these key sociological subject matters by taking into account the crucial role of emotions, shedding light on the not so visible links between micro- and macro-levels of analysis and their implications for social change, and broadening our reflections to other (no strictly sociological) dimensions of our existence.
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spelling doaj-art-a3d0ce195f8b473ea59fd8823beeb1412025-08-20T03:21:42ZengFirenze University PressCambio2239-11182023-03-01122410.36253/cambio-13862Six Memos for the Current Time. Rethinking six contemporary sociological matters in light of the emotional dynamics shaping themAlessandro Pratesi0Università di FirenzeThis contribution is inspired by Italo Calvino’s Harvard Lectures which should had been hold at Harvard in 1986 and were never delivered because of Calvino’s sudden and premature death. Calvino began his American lectures with a series of reflections on six qualities that he considered essential for good literature and then broadened his reflections to other (no strictly literary) dimensions of our existence. This article is based on a series of reflections on six sociological subjects that I consider essential to frame the recent pandemic, and then it extends such reflections to other realms of our everyday life. Care, Welfare, Death, Politics, Europe, and Marginality: the common denominator of these different key sociological subject matters is represented by emotions and their too often unacknowledged role in interpreting and explaining contemporary phenomena. They have been chosen as they represent a number of core themes which are considered key to help us demarcating the field of our critical analyses of the pandemic, but also because they epitomise paradigmatic contexts where the political relevance of emotional dynamics vividly emerge. In this sense, the main goal of this contribution is to invite scholars from different disciplinary perspectives to further investigate these key sociological subject matters by taking into account the crucial role of emotions, shedding light on the not so visible links between micro- and macro-levels of analysis and their implications for social change, and broadening our reflections to other (no strictly sociological) dimensions of our existence. https://oaj.fupress.net/index.php/cambio/article/view/13862politicscarewelfareEuropemarginalitysocial change
spellingShingle Alessandro Pratesi
Six Memos for the Current Time. Rethinking six contemporary sociological matters in light of the emotional dynamics shaping them
Cambio
politics
care
welfare
Europe
marginality
social change
title Six Memos for the Current Time. Rethinking six contemporary sociological matters in light of the emotional dynamics shaping them
title_full Six Memos for the Current Time. Rethinking six contemporary sociological matters in light of the emotional dynamics shaping them
title_fullStr Six Memos for the Current Time. Rethinking six contemporary sociological matters in light of the emotional dynamics shaping them
title_full_unstemmed Six Memos for the Current Time. Rethinking six contemporary sociological matters in light of the emotional dynamics shaping them
title_short Six Memos for the Current Time. Rethinking six contemporary sociological matters in light of the emotional dynamics shaping them
title_sort six memos for the current time rethinking six contemporary sociological matters in light of the emotional dynamics shaping them
topic politics
care
welfare
Europe
marginality
social change
url https://oaj.fupress.net/index.php/cambio/article/view/13862
work_keys_str_mv AT alessandropratesi sixmemosforthecurrenttimerethinkingsixcontemporarysociologicalmattersinlightoftheemotionaldynamicsshapingthem