Liberating Silence: Sociological Explorations

Past sociological scholarship has narrowly considered silence, with a few exceptions. This paper considers neglected aspects of silence in sociology, focusing on its positive, liberating dimensions. After a review of multidisciplinary research on the subject, we theorize silence sociologically, linking “spaciousness” with George Herbert Mead’s concept of a meaningful pause between stimulus and response. We provide a critique of social conditions that stand in the way of a freely chosen and accessible capacity to be silent. We draw in part on our experiential and research knowledge of forms of meditation to illustrate our argument. We discuss increasing silence commodification in global capitalism and introduce the notion of sensory exploitation. Next, we offer a few suggestions for the social design of silence. In the spirit of public sociology, this partial blueprint contributes to a more resilient, sustainable, and inclusive society. The conclusion contemplates several potential critiques of our perspective and articulates a response.