Mariusz Finkielsztein

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Professor (Assistant) at University of Gdańsk

A pioneering sociological exploration of boredom as a culturally- and socially-dependent emotion Does boredom have a history? What can hunter-gatherers teach us about boredom? Is boredom experienced differently by those in different socio-economic classes? Is boredom a disease that is now globalized in a world of inequalities and marginalization?...

The paper presents the phenomenon of boredom in Julien Gracq’s novel Le Rivage des Syrtes (The opposing shore). The book describes Orsenna, oligarchic city-state loosely based on Venetian republic and empire, which is in a state of phoney war with Farghestan, a mysterious country across the closed sea of Syrtes. The story, narrated by Aldo, young a...

Call for papers: THE SECRET ACADEMIA: THE SYSTEMIC AND CULTURAL ANALYSIS OF THE PRACTICES OF ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT. Together with Prof. Izabela Wagner, we would like to produce a book analyzing the various practices of academic abuse of power and "bad behavior." We are interested in systemic, institutional, cultural, etc. analyses, i.e. we would like...

Boredom frequently functions as a self-explanatory phenomenon that is taken for granted, yet it is far from being one-dimensional and obvious. The paper constitutes a critical analysis of qualities of boredom employed in various definitions of boredom in order to identify those essential for the phenomenon. The main goal of the paper is to provide...

The article examines the motivations, attitudes, and practices of senior ballroom dancing (dancers over 30 years of age). The paper is based on qualitative research (interviews and participant observation) conducted in one Warsaw dancing club and presents senior ballroom dancing as serious leisure as conceptualized by Robert Stebbins, that is, a pu...

The paper advocates the claim that boredom is not only a psychological state or existential mood but a social emotion produced and reproduced in the process of interactions between people as individuals, people displaying specific social roles, or social groups. Moreover, as argued in the article, the feeling of boredom is particularly characterist...

The article poses the thesis that boredom is the main driving force of the consumer capitalist system. Through a sequence of social and cultural shifts and freeloading on natural human predispositions, the system has manufactured a new type of being, homo consumens, who is socialized to be passive, desire- and dream-driven, and addicted to novelty,...

This article aims at providing concise but thorough presentation of the state of art in the emerging field of boredom studies evidencing the significance of boredom. The premise of the significance of boredom is to be expounded by documenting its widespread, social consequences, functions and positive outcomes. Boredom has been found prevalent irre...

Looking at scientists (in the life sciences), we focus on the sense of meaninglessness associated with bureaucratization. We define the sense of meaninglessness as a perception of meaning deficit or meaning conflict in particular situations that can be associated with frustration, irritation, and/or boredom. We show that it can be caused by identit...

It is common for early career teachers to face mixed feelings of enthusiasm, motivation and apprehension, where some may even naively assume that they will revolutionise academic teaching (Marciniak, 2008). However, after a few semesters, an odd paradox sets in: academics are keen about teaching, but often reluctant to actually teach (Jacobson, 201...

Introducing the notion of boredom into the academic context, Boredom and Academic Work proposes a fresh sociological perspective on boredom and academic work alike. It invites a reader to reflect on the essence of boredom and the nature of academic work from the sociological perspective. It constitutes methodological and conceptual guidance for al...

This article examines the boredom of asylum seekers living in a refugee camp in southern Europe. It concerns the understudied yet widespread phenomenon of boredom in the detention centers and other places where people wait several months/years to obtain permits to stay in a given state (EU) and cannot work. Boredom is defined as a socially construc...

The chapter is a culmination of a definitional reflection presented in the previous two chapters. It analyses all significant characteristics associated with boredom both in scientific literature and popular discourse and distinguishes those that are non-essential for boredom (i.e., those that boredom shares with other states or are merely causes o...

The first empirical chapter concentrates on systemic, organizational, and normative issues that may contribute to the experience of work-related boredom among academics. Boredom at the university may be associated with modern and postmodern changes in academia: (a) academic work has been standardized and rationalized in many ways and has ceased to...

The chapter provides a detailed description and analysis of various academic activities (scientific conferences, staff meetings, teaching, and research-related work) in terms of boredom. The most prevalently, boredom, is experienced during scientific conferences. The most general cause of such ‘conference boredom’ is a failure to reach a conference...

The chapter provides a detailed description and analysis of various academic activities (scientific conferences, staff meetings, teaching, and research-related work) in terms of boredom. The most prevalently, boredom, is experienced during scientific conferences. The most general cause of such ‘conference boredom’ is a failure to reach a conference...

The chapter reflects on methodological problems in researching boredom: (a) difficulties in adequately observing boredom in vivo (phenomenological problem) as it shares phenomenology with sleepiness and fatigue; (b) frequent denials of ever being bored as it constitutes ‘experience without qualities,’ and prerogative of the non-intelligent-enough;;...

The chapter constitutes a thorough reconstruction of the existing conceptualizations of boredom in three academic disciplines: psychology, philosophy, and sociology. It shows that boredom is variously understood and that it is far from being unambiguous. First of all, there are two major and quite different kinds of boredom – ‘common’ boredom and ‘...

The chapter provides a detailed description and analysis of various academic activities (scientific conferences, staff meetings, teaching, and research-related work) in terms of boredom. The most prevalently, boredom, is experienced during scientific conferences. The most general cause of such ‘conference boredom’ is a failure to reach a conference...

The chapter provides a detailed description and analysis of various academic activities (scientific conferences, staff meetings, teaching, and research-related work) in terms of boredom. The most prevalently, boredom, is experienced during scientific conferences. The most general cause of such ‘conference boredom’ is a failure to reach a conference...

Dear colleagues, I hope, more than ever, this email finds you and your loved ones well. We are extending the deadline to submit proposals for the 4th International Interdisciplinary Boredom Conference due to the COVID-19. The new deadline is JANUARY 31, 2021. Warm regards, -- Josefa Ros Velasco, Ph.D. phil. Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Compl...

The experience of boredom is strongly connected to our well-being. It can be a powerful driver toward a meaningful life and a great source of creativity. However, it can also pose a severe risk to our health. In recognition of its importance, in recent years, more and more researchers have begun to investigate the topic of boredom. However, while t...

Although in recent years, researchers have shown increasing interest in achievement-related emotions, academic boredom included, still the vast majority of the studies that have been carried out on the issue, so far, employed solely or primarily quantitative methods, were largely confined to the field of psychology and were conducted in a limited n...

Boredom, in spite of its social ubiquity, is rarely the subject of defnitional reflection. Most people, including a large group of scholars, employing the term ‘boredom’ use it in colloquial, common-sense meaning, which treats boredom as an experience strongly connected (if not identical) with inaction, rest, laziness and/or monotony. Tis article ai...

Boredom is not only a universal phenomenon but also an primeval phenomenon, constituting the basic disposition and fundamental human experience. This introduction is a brief introduction to the history of boredom and boredology (this neologism refers to any reflection on the phenomenon of boredom) – presents several arguments for the antiquity of bo...

This paper focuses on the dynamics that animate the situation of women inside academia and the social world of science. Based on a long-term ethnographic study we chose specific cases (scientists educated in Poland) to illustrate the complexity of the career-making process in the 21st century. In this country, in a social and professional environme...

Nuda często jest kojarzona z edukacją na poziomie podstawowym lub średnim, jednak występuje również w środowisku akademickim. Przyznają to studenci, mniej chętnie pracownicy, jednak pojawiająca się okresowo nuda jest faktem. W artykule przedstawiono przegląd badań nad nudą w edukacji wyższej oraz wstępne wyniki jakościowego badania przeprowadzonego...

The article is presenting the vision of ideal Christian community emerging from the Stromata by Clement of Alexandria, who depicts the figure of gnostic, ideal Christian and virtues by which he is characterized, including that of the most importance, agape. On this basis in the article the vision of ideal community was reconstructed. Clement highli...

Artykuł przedstawia powiązania pomiędzy emocjami wstrętu i nudy. W tym celu wykorzystane zostały ustalenia psychologii emocji (w tym psychologii ewolucyjnej), powiązania językowe oraz wątki literackie i filozoficzne. Związek pomiędzy nudą a wstrętem pokazany został na dwóch wzajemnie się uzupełniających i przeplatających poziomach: odczucia przesyt...