Randall Collins
Who
American sociologist. Professor at University of Pennsylvania.
Core Idea
"Interaction ritual chains" — emotional energy is generated and sustained through face-to-face interaction rituals. High emotional energy produces confidence, enthusiasm, solidarity. Low emotional energy produces depression and withdrawal. Social stratification is partly a stratification of emotional energy.
Key Works
- Interaction Ritual Chains (2004)
- The Sociology of Philosophies (1998)
Relevance
Why in-person events, rituals, and physical presence still matter for institutional authority-building, even in digital environments. For organizations operating in MENA contexts where digital space is surveilled or restricted, the emotional energy generated through physical interaction cannot be fully replicated online. Also: his concept of emotional energy as a resource that accumulates and depletes helps explain why sustained political activism leads to structural burnout, not individual failure.
Connected To
- Jonathan Turner — both work in the sociology of emotions; Turner's evolutionary account provides the foundation Collins builds on
- Arlie Hochschild — emotional energy (Collins) is what emotional labor (Hochschild) either generates or depletes
- Pierre Bourdieu — emotional energy maps onto Bourdieu's capitals within social fields
