Ritual as a Missing Link

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.

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 University–Carbondale. 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 coeditor―with Bernard Phillips―of the series Advancing the Sociological Imagination, with Paradigm Publishers. His most recent books are, coedited with Bernard Phillips, Bureaucratic Culture and Escalating World Problems: Advancing the Sociological Imagination (Paradigm Publishers) and, coedited with Sing C. Chew, Structure, Culture, and History: Recent Issues in Social Theory (Rowman & Littlefield). His new book, with Jason S. Ulsperger, Elder Care Catastrophe: Rituals of Abuse in Nursing Homes―And What You Can Do About It, is forthcoming with Paradigm Publishers. Excerpts from his work are on the website www.sociological-imagination.org. His email address is david.knottnerus@okstate.edu.