Symbolic Interactionism

These two authoritative volumes provide a valuable resource for students of symbolic interactionism. Volume I traces the historical roots of interactionism and analyzes the work of many of the earlier pragmatists and sociologists who shaped the interactionist tradition. It also considers the contemporary debate about the impact of Mead and gives special prominence to the work of the late Herbert Blumer. Volume II takes as its starting point the critique of interactionism, which gathered momentum during the 1970s, and shows that many of these earlier critics were misguided. The readings provided suggest interactionism can be linked strongly to structure, power, history, emotion and language.