Ritual as a Missing Link

J. David Knottnerus is Professor of Sociology at Oklahoma State University. He earned an undergraduate degree in sociology from Beloit College and an M.A. and a Ph.D. in sociology from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. Knottnerus has published in the areas of social theory, social psychology, group processes, social structure and inequality, and collective behavior/social movements. Most of his efforts in recent years have focused on the development of structural ritualization theory and research. He is currently the coeditor-with Bernard Phillips-of the series Advancing the Sociological Imagination, with Paradigm Publishers. His most recent books are, coedited with Bernard Phillips, Bureaucratic Culture and Escalating World Problems: Advancing the Sociological Imagination (Paradigm Publishers) and, coedited with Sing C. Chew, Structure, Culture, and History: Recent Issues in Social Theory (Rowman & Littlefield). His new book, with Jason S. Ulsperger, Elder Care Catastrophe: Rituals of Abuse in Nursing Homes-And What You Can Do About It, is forthcoming with Paradigm Publishers. Excerpts from his work are on the website www.sociological-imagination.org. His email address is david.knottnerus@okstate.edu.