Erving Goffman

Anthropologist, Sociologist, Writer and Social Scientist

Erving Goffman was the sociologist who looked at society and said, ‘This is a theatre, and everyone is acting — well or badly, depending on the day.’ Born in 1922 in Canada, he wasn't interested in grand abstract theories: he preferred to observe how people behave in real life — in the lift, in small talk, or even when they pretend they're not pretending.

With The Presentation of the Self in Everyday Life, he launched the idea that we are constantly playing social roles, as if each of us had our own stage, costume and audience (including invisible ones). He studied madness, stigma, social interactions and made it clear that behind every mundane gesture there is a well-rehearsed social choreography. He died in 1982, but his legacy lives on: if today you feel like you are “playing a character” at work, on social media or at a family lunch, congratulations — Goffman figured you out a long time ago.