Recent theorizing tends to position ordinary relationships as something we have lost, yet the nature of these relationships is not seriously engaged with. Drawing on rich empirical data, this book questions epochal claims about contemporary emotional lives, setting out to be explicit about the nature of ordinary relationships.
1. What We Talk About When We Talk About Emotions Culture: The Role of Culture, Reflexivity and Emotions 2. About Distances: Researching Emotional Lives 3. 'It's Good to Talk' and Other Stories 4. Look Who's Listening 5. The Practice of Being There 6. Seizing the Spinning Top: Reflexivity in Practice 7. Living in the Second World 8. On Not Telling our Sad Stories: Where Have All the Vulnerable People Gone? 9. Conclusion: Having our Heads Turned by the Ordinary
