Overview
Society is built from everyday interaction and interpretation.
📌 At a glance
- Premises
- Meaning, interaction, interpretation
Key concepts
Cooley’s looking-glass self; Mead’s I/Me and generalized other; the Thomas theorem; Goffman’s dramaturgy.
It led to labeling theory. Becker (1963) argued deviance is the outcome of others applying the label.
Critique
Neglects macro structures; see sociological theory.
Frequently asked questions
- Micro or macro?
- Micro.
References
- Mead, G. H. (1934). Mind, Self, and Society. University of Chicago Press.
- Blumer, H. (1969). Symbolic Interactionism: Perspective and Method. Prentice-Hall.
- Cooley, C. H. (1902). Human Nature and the Social Order. Charles Scribner’s Sons.
- Thomas, W. I., & Thomas, D. S. (1928). The Child in America. Alfred A. Knopf.
- Goffman, E. (1959). The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Doubleday.
- Becker, H. S. (1963). Outsiders. Free Press.