What do awkward silences, failed greetings, and sitting down in the wrong seat at a meeting have in common? They all fall under the phenomenon of awkwardness – the subject of the new book A Sociology of Awkwardness: On Social Interactions Going Wrong by ESHCC researchers Pauwke Berkers (Professor of Sociology of Popular Music) and Yosha Wijngaarden (Assistant Professor of Media & Creative Industries).
In a recent interview with Dutch newspaper NRC, the two scholars discuss their academic yet accessible study of this everyday social phenomenon. “Feelings of awkwardness are the outcome of social interactions going wrong, and as such are recognised by at least one of the social actors (in)directly involved,” they write in the book.
Popular culture and awkwardness
According to the researchers, awkwardness is far more than just teenage slang. “Awkwardness is a label that has connotations in popular culture,” Wijngaarden explains. “You won’t hear teenagers exclaim ‘uncomfortable!’ The label awkward tells us something about a global pop culture that has become increasingly dominant.”
Berkers adds: “The rise of awkwardness shows how popular culture shapes our emotional lives. Existing feelings become emotions once they are given a label.”
Empirical research on awkwardness
In addition to theoretical reflections, the book presents a broad empirical study. The researchers analysed more than 23,000 tweets and 50 media reports about awkwardness during the Covid-19 pandemic. They also interviewed international students, millennials active on dating apps, and users of co-working spaces. The findings reveal that awkwardness is not only experienced individually but also collectively recognised and shared.
A sociological lens on everyday discomfort
The study connects with the broader mission of the Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication (ESHCC): to understand how culture and society continuously influence one another. “We have shown that awkwardness is not an individual shortcoming, but an inherent consequence of a changing society,” Berkers stresses in NRC.
Wijngaarden underlines that the project reflects the essence of sociology itself: “What sociologists always do is question conventions, question society, question culture, question identity – and this book is a clear example of that.”
About the book
A Sociology of Awkwardness: On Social Interactions Going Wrong was published on 21 April and is available as an open access publication.
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Read the full interview (in Dutch) via NRC.
For more information, please contact Julia Wetsteijn, press officer ESHCC, via wetsteijn@eshcc.eur.nl
