Overview

This book is not just about air travel. It is about the emergent social world of flying. It concerns air space and behavior in the air the way someone else might look at cities and street behavior. Economic, political, and cultural aspects are all considered. . . . Airports have now become specific places in their own right that, in a certain sense, now. . . are very much like cities. Frequent flying also has produced its very own culture. Rules of behavior are subscribed to in the air. Unique behaviors at terminals and in the passenger cabin have emerged that contrast with life on the ground. In chapters below I explore these interesting aspects of etiquette, eroticism, and bi-coastalism, a human activity that is only possible because of our present society's evolution. . . . Only now have we begun to appreciate our emergent global culture. The world is shrinking just as the opportunities for travel expand.

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9780742500280

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Life in the Air is a unique look at multiple facets of air travel, that new social reality that engulfs, structures, and frustrates the lives of growing millions. Sometimes political-economic analysis, sometimes in-flight anecdotes, but always thought-provoking, Gottdiener's tour de force forces a rethinking of the kaleidoscopic realities of life as lived, or suffered, in airplanes and airports.--Feagin, Joe

Serious political-economic analyses are accompanied by interesting in-flight anecdotes. Sociological Abstracts A compelling and scholarly perspective. The Houston Chronicle Life in the Air is a unique look at multiple facets of air travel, that new social reality that engulfs, structures, and frustrates the lives of growing millions. Sometimes political-economic analysis, sometimes in-flight anecdotes, but always thought-provoking, Gottdiener's tour de force forces a rethinking of the kaleidoscopic realities of life as lived, or suffered, in airplanes and airports. -- Joe R. Feagin, Texas A&M University

Serious political-economic analyses are accompanied by interesting in-flight anecdotes. Sociological Abstracts A compelling and scholarly perspective. The Houston Chronicle Life in the Air is a unique look at multiple facets of air travel, that new social reality that engulfs, structures, and frustrates the lives of growing millions. Sometimes political-economic analysis, sometimes in-flight anecdotes, but always thought-provoking, Gottdiener's tour de force forces a rethinking of the kaleidoscopic realities of life as lived, or suffered, in airplanes and airports. -- Feagin, Joe

Author Information

Mark Gottdiener is professor of sociology at the University of Buffalo.

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