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​Flowing Beneath the Surface
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Sociologists Look at "Social Love" in Daily Life
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​For a review of the field, click here.
For descriptions of recent books, scroll down.
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In process philosophy, love is central—not merely a divine attribute but the fabric of our connections with others when we are at our best. There is something nourishing and life-giving about love, especially when gratituitous - as in buying a cup of coffee for a stranger.

Thomas Oord defines love "as acting intentionally, in sympathetic response to others, to promote overall well-being." Is it possible that the seeds of overall well-being already exist in daily life? The emerging field of the sociology of love proposes that they do. Sociologists are exploring how love is embedded in societal structures and practices. Works like Social Love and the Critical Potential of People, edited by Silvia Cataldi and Gennaro Iorio, and Iorio’s The Sociology of Love highlight this. As the publisher's description of Iorio's book puts it:

“The reality we live in is impregnated with love. The challenge is to recognize it and to call things by their proper name; gratuity, overabundance, and creativity are aspects that we experience in everyday life, but they are also expressions of small-great heroisms, which offer an alternative to instrumentalism, uncertainty, and consumerism, typical of contemporary social life.”

This field amplifies Thomas Oord’s notion of “overall well-being.” The phrase calls us to consider not only the good of individuals but the common good of communities and the world. At the same time, the sociology of love shows that love is not only an individual act; it is an already existing social reality - not the whole of social reality, but a nourishing part of it. 

In this sense, so sociologists say, social love is like a karst river: a stream that flows partly or entirely underground through soluble bedrock—such as limestone, dolomite, or gypsum—quietly carving out caves and hidden channels. Similarly, social love is an already existing current, flowing beneath the surface of social life and history, subtly but persistently reshaping the public world. Sociologists suggest that this current becomes visible through four interrelated and, in principle, observable dimensions: overabundance, care, recognition, and universalism - all of which are being studied and in many instances promoted in contemporary research.

Overabundance names acts of giving that exceed expectations of reciprocity—such as mutual aid, hospitality, or forgiveness—that open new relational possibilities.

Care refers to the ongoing, concrete responsibility for the well-being of others, as seen in caregiving relationships, community support networks, and practices that sustain life over time.

Recognition affirms others as unique subjects of experience rather than reducing them to roles or categories, evident, for example, in inclusive forms of dialogue and policies that honor dignity.

Universalism extends concern beyond one’s immediate circle to include strangers, outsiders, and the more-than-human world, as in movements for global justice or ecological care.

Importantly, so sociogists of love inside, these are not rare or exceptional occurrences. Sociological research suggests that one or more of these dimensions is present, often quietly, in the micro-practices of everyday life. They form an undercurrent within many societies—frequently unnoticed, yet continually at work.
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In this way, Oord’s idea of “overall well-being” gains new depth. It refers not only to personal moral action but also to the the karsty rivers of daily life, quietly effective at a collective scale. If there is hope for the world, it may be in these rivers.


Seminar on Social Love

in Arabic and English
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"For a long time, love has been confined to the private sphere and its social dimension has been overlooked. Instead, love is a force capable of generating social bonds and change in human sociability. While classical sociologists, such as Simmel, Weber and Sorokin supported this idea, sociological schools of thought have long relegated this topic to the intimate and pre-social sphere. Nevertheless, in the last decades contemporary sociological theory and scholars have re-evaluated love as an essential element of public life. Adopting a sociological perspective, the seminar will be structured in two parts. The first part unveils the concept of social love as a kind of ‘Karst River’ that flows through the history of sociology, reassessing it as a form criticism by social actors of everyday life. Breaking the logic of instrumentality, calculation and standardization, love enables people to enter in a regime of overabundance which recognizes the irreducibility of the other. In this sense it can be a key element in the promotion of solidarity and recognition in current plural and unequal societies. The second part of the seminar will be devoted to show the results of empirical studies on social love, such as case studies, survey, and also the construction of an innovative World Love Index which aims to measure the level of unconditionality and overabounding present in different countries around the world."

Seminar: Social Love and the critical potential of people: When the social reality challenges the sociological imagination by Silvia Cataldi, Associate Professor of sociology, Sapienza University of Rome Gennaro Iorio, Professor of sociology, University of Salerno April 5, 2022

Social Love and the Critical Potential of People 
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Social Love and the Critical Potential of People (2022), edited by Silvia Cataldi and Gennaro Iorio, offers a provocative challenge to traditional sociology by positioning love as a robust, public, and transformative force. While classical sociology has often relegated love to the private sphere—viewing it as an intimate emotion or a family bond—Cataldi and Iorio argue that "social love" is a latent power that emerges during times of systemic crisis. By examining how individuals respond to global challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and rising inequality, the authors suggest that human actions often exceed the cold logic of economic exchange or state-mandated duty.
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The book reclaims the "sociological imagination" by highlighting the critical potential inherent in everyday acts of solidarity. It posits that when social reality becomes dehumanizing or overly bureaucratic, people instinctively turn to social love as a form of resistance and reconstruction. This framework does not treat love as a sentimental abstraction; rather, it identifies it as a "Karst river"—a powerful current that flows beneath the surface of social history, ready to reshape the public landscape through four specific, measurable dimensions: Overabundance, Care, Recognition, and Universalism.

The Four Dimensions of Social Love

In the framework developed by Silvia Cataldi and Gennaro Iorio (2022), "social love" is defined not as a private emotion, but as a transformative public force and a form of social criticism. It is composed of four interlocking dimensions that challenge traditional sociological models of self-interest and calculated exchange:
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  • Overabundance: This dimension represents a break from "tit-for-tat" social logic. It occurs when individuals act beyond the requirements of duty, law, or expected reciprocity. By providing more than what is "owed," overabundance disrupts standard social hierarchies and creates new possibilities for collective action.
  • Care: Moving love into the realm of labor, this dimension emphasizes practical, concrete commitment. Care is the active responsibility for the well-being of others and the common world, shifting the focus from mere sentiment to the tangible work of sustaining life and dignity.
  • Recognition: This involves acknowledging the "other" as a unique and irreplaceable individual. It serves as a corrective to dehumanizing social structures that view people as mere categories (such as "worker," "migrant," or "consumer"), instead validating their inherent and singular human value.
  • Universalism: The most radical dimension, universalism extends care and recognition to the "stranger" or the "outsider." It rejects tribalism and in-group bias, asserting that social solidarity must cross national, ethnic, and political boundaries to address global crises effectively.

Together, these dimensions empower the "critical potential" of citizens, allowing them to imagine and enact a social reality that prioritizes human connection over systemic utility.

Sociology of Love
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"For far too long, love has been considered a private concept, closed in the sphere of intimacy, friendship or religiosity. Yet love has also a social and public value. This is what Gennaro Iorio states in his new book Sociology of Love thus introducing love not only as a new critical concept for the social sciences, but also as a new principle for social and political emancipation of humanity.

The aim of the sociologist, professor at the University of Salerno, is ambitious and innovative: bucking the pessimistic trend of contemporary sociology, he discovers that the reality we live in is impregnated with love. The challenge is to recognize it and to call things by their proper name; gratuity, overabounding and creativity are aspects that we experience in everyday life, but they are also expressions of small-great heroisms, which offer an alternative to instrumentalism, uncertainty and consumerism, typical of contemporary social life.
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The book by Iorio deserves to be read, because it flies in the face of the weak thought emerging in social sciences, and proposes a new direction for the contemporary debate: on the shoulders of giants such as Sorokin, Simmel, Giddens, Boltanski and Honneth, it is time to go back and rediscover the ordinariness of the relationships which makes love something extraordinary for the whole society."
Open Horizons