Emotions as Lines: A Process Sociology

Abstract This article develops a sociological account of emotions as lines : dynamic processes that unfold over time, undergo interruptions, intensifications, and transformations, and become entangled with other emotional and social trajectories. Drawing on classical pragmatism and Ingold’s linealogy, it challenges static and substantialist accounts that treat emotions as discrete states or entities. Instead, emotions are understood as trajectories shaped through ongoing adjustments within conduct. The article advances three interconnected concepts—emotions as lines , correspondences , and meshworks —to show how affective life develops through relational entanglements, mutual responsiveness, and temporal continuity. By integrating insights from sociology, affect studies, developmental psychology, and process philosophy, it argues that emotions are best understood through their trajectories and practical effects rather than through their presumed foundations, offering a relational and process-oriented framework for the study of emotional experience.