Erving Goffman, Everyday Life and Everyday Resistance

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the work of Erving Goffman and his examination of how everyday interaction is shaped by power, social order and subtle forms of resistance. Goffman’s early fieldwork identified the inherently politicised nature of face-to-face encounters, arguing that social order is maintained through norms that regulate who can participate and how. Individuals are expected to uphold these norms, and failure to do so often results in sanctions or exclusion. His later dramaturgical approach conceptualised interaction as performance, where individuals manage impressions and work to sustain a shared ‘definition of the situation’.

Goffman further explored how institutions and social processes reinforce control. In Asylums, he analysed total institutions as environments that enforce conformity and isolate individuals, while his work on stigma demonstrated how identities are categorised and judged, producing inequality and disadvantage. Across his work, Goffman emphasised that individuals must develop social competencies to navigate interaction successfully, though their actions remain constrained by external expectations.