Rethinking Fusion: Towards a New Typology for Social Performance

Pedro Moisés, University of Wisconsin - Madison

Within the ‘strong program’ in cultural sociology, previous accounts of social performance have lacked precise definitions of ‘fusion’, the main concept that holds the individual elements of the theory together and evaluates the outcome of the performance. In this paper, I aim to examine the current uses of fusion in the research program of cultural pragmatics, both theoretical and empirical, to demonstrate its inconsistencies and the inadequacy of its focus only on case studies with positive connections. The present study proposes a new foundation for the concept of fusion based on a two-dimensional model that considers emotional affection and agreement as two independent axes. With this framework, it is possible to identify and untangle four distinct performative outcomes: positive fusion, negative fusion, partial fusion, and de-fusion. The typology contributes to pushing forward the development of the research program for new and more precise inquiries.

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 Presented in Session 114. Rethinking Culture and Action