Abstract
One hundred and ten years after the birth of David Riesman (1909–2002), and almost 70 after the publication of The Lonely Crowd (1950), this chapter revisits the main contributions of such a work for a current reading of youth in a networked society. Anchored on data collected from a representative sample of students in secondary schools in Évora, a city in the south of Portugal (Europe), the chapter makes use of statistical analysis to discuss if and how today society impels young individuals to experience loneliness, by specifically referring to those integrating, avoiding or engaging “the crowd”. Ultimately, the paper seeks to advance understanding on the contemporary and globalized relations between emotions and loneliness, as Riesman wisely put it.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Barthel-Bouchier, D. 2019. The Lonely Crowd. International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. Encyclopedia.com. https://www.encyclopedia.com. Accessed March 29, 2019.
Boyd, D. 2014. It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
Costa, R.M., I. Patrão, and M. Machado. 2018. Problematic Internet Use and Feelings of Loneliness. International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice. Published Online: December 20, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1080/13651501.2018.1539180. Accessed March 18, 2019.
Gans, H., N. Glazer, J. Gusfield, and C. Jencks, eds. 1979. On the Making of American: Essays in Honor of David Riesman. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Gans, H. 1997. Best-Sellers by Sociologists: An Exploratory Study. Contemporary Sociology 26 (2): 131–135. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2076741.
Haddon, L. 2015. Social Media and Youth. In The International Encyclopedia of Digital Communication and Society, ed. Robin Mansell and Peng Hwa Ang, 1–9. Chichester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118290743.wbiedcs088.
Heberle, R. 1956. A Note on Riesman’s The Lonely Crowd. American Journal of Sociology 62 (1): 34–36. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2773802.
Hosmer, D., S. Lemeshow, and R. Sturdivant. 2013. Applied Logistic Regression, 3rd ed. New York: Wiley.
Infante, P., R.P. Costa, A. Afonso, G. Jacinto, J. Conde, and M.L. Policarpo. 2018. Diagnóstico Juvenil: os Alunos do Ensino Secundário. Évora: Câmara Municipal de Évora e Centro de Investigação em Matemática e Aplicações da Universidade de Évora.
Lipset, S.M., and L. Lowenthal (eds.). 1961. Culture and Social Character: The Work of David Riesman Reviewed. Glencoe: The Fress Press.
Livingstone, S., and L. Haddon (eds.). 2009. Kids Online: Opportunities and Risks for Children. Bristol, UK: Policy Press.
Mascheroni, G., and K. Olafsson. 2014. Net Children Go Mobile: Risks and Opportunities, 2nd ed. Milano: Educatt.
Mascheroni, G., C. Ponte, and A. Jorge. 2018. Digital Parenting. Göteborg: Nordicom.
McClay, W. 1998. The Lonely Crowd After Fifty Years. The Wilson Quarterly, Summer, 35–43.
McLaughlin, N. 2001. Critical Theory Meets America: Riesman, Fromm, and The Lonely Crowd. The American Sociologist 32 (1): 5–26. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12108-001-1009-4.
Mullan, K., and S. Chatzitheochari. 2019. Changing Times Together? A Time‐Diary Analysis of Family Time in the Digital Age in the United Kingdom. First Published: March 11, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12564. Accessed March 20, 2019.
Ponte, C., A. Jorge, J.A. Simões, and D.S. Cardoso. Org. 2012. Crianças e internet em Portugal, acessos, usos, riscos, mediações: resultados do inquérito europeu EU KIDS ONLINE. Coimbra: Minerva.
R Core Team. 2017. R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. Vienna: R Foundation for Statistical Computing. https://www.R-project.org/.
Riesman, D., N. Glazer, and R. Denny. 1950. The Lonely Crowd: A Study of the Changing American Character. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Riesman, D., N. Glazer, and R. Denny. 1989 [1950]. The Lonely Crowd: A Study of the Changing American Character. Abridged ed. with 1961 and 1969 prefaces. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
Riesman, D. 1998. The Innocence of The Lonely Crowd. Society 35 (2): 339–342. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02838159.
Stage, C. 2013. The Online Crowd: A Contradiction in Terms? On the Potentials of Gustave Le Bon’s Crowd Psychology in an Analysis of Affective Blogging. Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory 14 (2): 211–226. https://doi.org/10.1080/1600910X.2013.773261.
Thompson, R., L. Berriman, and S. Bragg. 2018. Researching Everyday Childhoods: Time, Technology and Documentation in a Digital Age. London: Bloomsbury.
Twenge, J.M. 2017. iGen. New York: Atria Books.
Wrong, D. 1992. Review: “The Lonely Crowd” Revisited. Sociological Forum 7 (2): 381–389. https://www.jstor.org/stable/684319.
Acknowledgements
Rosalina Costa is affiliated researcher at CICS.NOVA.UÉvora—The Interdisciplinary Centre of Social Sciences, a research center funded by FCT, the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (project UID/SOC/04647/2019 (CICS.NOVA)). Paulo Infante, Anabela Afonso and Gonçalo Jacinto are members of CIMA—Research Center in Mathematics and Applications, also funded by FCT (project UID/MAT/04674/2019 (CIMA)). The authors gratefully acknowledge the support along all phases of the study development provided by the University of Évora, the research centers CICS.NOVA.UÉvora and CIMA, and the Évora City Council. The authors are also grateful for the kind assistance and fruitful collaboration gained through the close work with José Conde and Maria Luísa Policarpo, senior technicians of the Division of Youth and Sports of the Évora City Council, who were vital for accomplishing the work within the deadlines and objectives originally outlined.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Costa, R.P., Infante, P., Afonso, A., Jacinto, G. (2019). Making Sense of The Lonely Crowd, Today: Youth, Emotions and Loneliness in a Networked Society. In: Fox, B. (eds) Emotions and Loneliness in a Networked Society. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24882-6_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24882-6_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-24881-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-24882-6
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)