Symbolic Interactionism A Social Structural Version [Paperback]

This book, originally published in 1980 and reprinted here with a new foreword from the author, succinctly and clearly developed a well-argued case for symbolic interaction as a method and as a theory of human social behavior. It treats historical as well as contemporary figures and presents the author's original and stimulating assessment of the merits, shortcomings and future of symbolic interactionism. Sheldon Stryker's Symbolic Interactionism not only reviews the key figures who founded this tradition, but more fundamentally, it also presents a formal theory. This theory still represents one of the most important statements within the symbolic interactionist tradition. In this theory, Stryker attempts to explain the dynamics of identity formation, particularly the salience of an identity, the consequences of identity for role performances, and the shifting commitments to a particular identity. Like all important theories, this one is timeless and continues to inform theory and research in the social sciences. Jonathan H. Turner, Distinguished Professor of Sociology, University of California, Riverside. This is the book that brought structural symbolic interaction theory to the attention of sociologists and social psychologists around the country and the world. While recognizing the key importance of meanings and definitions of the situation, Stryker's discussion of his eight postulates forms the basis for understanding how and why the self is always embedded in society. This book is a remarkable achievement. Peter J. Burke, Professor, Department of Sociology, University of California, Riverside, California. Stryker's classic monograph has never been surpassed as a clear, focused exposition of his identity theory and of the agenda for structural symbolic interactionists more generally as they aim for a general theory of self, meaning and action. He brings interactionism to bear on central sociological questions about how social positions become incorporated lsè