Interaction Ritual Theory Summary

Randall Collins’ piece, “Interaction Ritual Theory,” draws on the works of Erving Goffman and Émile Durkheim. He presents a theory of social interaction on the basis of the emotions and rituals that they bring. Interaction ritual theory explains that interactions either produce or exhaust “emotional energy” which is “what individuals seek” (Collins, 2004, p. 604, 606). Collins states that, “everyday life is the experience of moving through a chain of interaction rituals, changing up some symbols with emotional significance and leaving others to fade” (Collins, 2004, p. 607). Collins essentially wants us to view everything in life as a ritual. Initially, this reading had me underwhelmed. Upon further reflection, I realized that this piece actually does have an effect. It altered the way I see everyday situations. It explains a lot of moods that I feel in particular situations. I found it …show more content…
He then goes on to critique Karl Marx and Max Weber, explaining that they had nothing to say about sexuality in their comprehensive works. Seidman claims that, “the classics never examined the social formation of modern regimes of bodies and sexualities” (Seidman, 1994, p. 610). He explained that sexuality was ignored even in the mid 20th century. Once homosexuals became more studied in sociology, sociologists painted them as “strange” and an exotic “other”. As the gay movement progressed into the 1970s, there was a backlash against homosexuality. Then came the rise of queer theory. Queer theory, “wishes to challenge the regime of sexuality itself – that is, the knowledges that construct the self as sexual and that assume heterosexuality and homosexuality as categories marking the truth of sexual slaves” (Seidman, 1994, p. 616). Essentially, it questions homosexuality and heterosexuality as a binary