Travel and Emotions in the Origins of Sociology: Harriet Martineau’s Experiences in the United States and the Middle East

Harriet Martineau is one of the founding women of British and world sociology. She wrote about social research methodology, education, economics, and politics from a sociological perspective. She was a feminist activist, journalist, and great traveler. In the context of a life full of writing and research activities, she made two long trips after which she published four essential books. A trip to the United States is very similar to the one made by Alexis de Tocqueville in which he presents a detailed description of that country and its “customs”. Another trip to the Middle East passes, among other places, through Egypt and the Holy Land, where she builds what some consider as the first contemporary sociological work on those lands. The two trips reconstruct phantoms and fantasies and offer a picture of the world and present the outstanding features of the politics of sensibilities in places traveled. This chapter captures Martineau’s gaze on the connections between time/space, emotional ecologies and power. I discuss her trajectory, the relevant features of her book on the U.S., a selection of features on her trip to the “East” and her role as a founding woman in sociology and the discipline’s relationship to time/space experiences.