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Sociologists tend to see G. H. Mead's conceptualization of self as fundamentally correct. In this paper, we develop a critique of Mead's notion of the self as constituted through social interactions. Our focus will be on Mead's categorial distinction between the socially constructed self and subjective experience, as well as on the tendency of post‐Meadian sociologists to push Mead's position in ever more radical directions. Drawing inspiration from a multifaceted understanding of selfhood that can be found in Husserlian phenomenology, we then propose that the most basic level of selfhood is anchored in irreducible subjective experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the link between the racial hierarchy and the racialized interaction order, questioning how controlling images of blackness are mediated in interactions. I explore this through interviews with thirty‐two black British middle‐class individuals, examining their interactions in the professional workplace. I argue that white people often draw on a practical knowledge of "white ignorance" to activate controlling images in their interactions with black professionals. This white ignorance allows for white people to find creative ways to irrationally deploy controlling images, and to adapt controlling images to specific interactional settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social positioning theory, or an account of the human individual that it grounds, qualifies as a quantum social theory. This is an assessment that I explain and defend in the paper. It is of interest in that, in a world where increasing numbers are seeking to construct quantum social theories, it serves to help demonstrate that this goal can be achieved without giving up on meeting criteria like explanatory intelligibility or power or discarding real‐world notions like human (and other) entities. As it turns out, a central feature of the account defended and a core element of the 'standard' interpretation of quantum mechanics are found to stand in an interesting, unanticipated and suggestive relation to each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the quest for an operational definition of begging. Researchers and policy makers examining begging suffer from definitional shortcomings. Social scientists generally provide a minimalistic and paradoxical definition of begging. Begging is indeed, simultaneously considered as a productive activity and as a non-reciprocated gift. Among law and policy makers, there is no consensus on a definition of begging. Begging can be defined broadly or narrowly, it can be considered as acceptable or be criminalized. In order to illustrate the need for an operational definition, the legal definitions of begging enacted in India, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Philippines are compared. Major theoretical definitions of begging are also reviewed. We then suggest an operational definition of begging in which we distinguish between begging policies, begging strategies and begging techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Charles S. Johnson and E. Franklin Frazier were successful Black sociologists from the 1920s to 1960s, working in an age of scientific racism and eugenics, who battled racial oppression, racist discrimination, and surveillance under the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Both struggled within and against the assimilationist paradigm, yet their ethnographic and critical insights speak out today with continuing relevance in the fight against practical and institutional racial injustice. This study selectively examines Johnson and Frazier's academic careers as forgotten ethnographer activists who have been largely excluded from the dominant narrative of the Chicago School of Sociology. This article argues Robert Park offered opportunities to these Black scholars although the white university system exclusively directed their work towards race studies. Furthermore, the white discipline of sociology failed to recognize Johnson and Frazier's critical ethnographic studies as part of interactionism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this case study, we bring together literatures on identity and culture to examine the boundary work taking place within the United Pentecostal Church International (UPCI), a historically conservative denomination with a fundamentalist orientation toward Christian belief and practice. Our findings demonstrate that boundaries are subject to deviation—and even intentional alteration—at the local level. We introduce the concept of "self‐effacing boundary work" to describe a strategy that deemphasizes exclusionary group practices and beliefs while simultaneously seeking to retain a unique group identity. Organizational leaders and idioculture play key roles in this process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the health and social care sectors of European countries the number of regional interorganizational networks of providers is growing. Since facilitating development of such networks for the purpose of multi-agency working increasingly becomes an issue, theories must be drawn up to understand network development, possible absence of development included. We have taken up the challenge. Based on empirical data and elaborating on the work of authoritative authors we formulated a sociological systems theory on interorganizational network development. Here we present the theory, which is the result of a case study in the Dutch care sector. In our theory, we consider interorganizational networks as social systems. Therefore, we used knowledge from social system theory. However, we added knowledge from interactionism, especially the concept of ‘meaning’. It is argued that the combination of both perspectives into one theory allows a better understanding of network development. The concept of ‘steering’ is the junction where the perspectives meet. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women managers face institutional and social barriers throughout their careers. In this research, we use networking and symbolic interactionism theories to explain how they network while negotiating these impediments in an emerging economy setting. Focus-group data revealed three themes. The women in our study, as predicted by networking theory, use networks to bolster career outcomes, although some also use non-influential networks or network ineffectively. Next, symbolic interactionism explains how expectations of, and personal reflections on, networking lead to a lack of confidence and feelings of guilt that can be career limiting. However, when women understand that their unique networking approach can be powerful, they gain social capital that enhances their leadership. Last, patriarchal cultures of emerging economy settings support stereotypical gender roles, leaving women conflicted between competition and mutual support, thus redefining the so-called Queen Bee phenomenon. We conclude by showing how women can use networking to enhance career and personal development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rights gains for members of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex ( LGBTI) populations in Chile have been highly contentious since democratisation, indicative of the stigmatisation directed towards non-normative gender and sexual identities. This article addresses the role of activist lawyers pursuing LGBTI rights cases through the courts, and draws on McAdam and colleagues' (2001) concept of a 'broker' to examine the lawyers' roles in linking previously unconnected sites within the judiciary and further afield. The analysis draws these processes together through interactionist perspectives of meaning-making and how they relate to stigma, deviancy and identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A common assertion in the family science literature is that low-income single mothers are increasingly retreating from marriage but still vaunt it as their ultimate relationship goal. To explain this paradox, scholars frequently cite inadequacies in men's marriageability, financial instability, and conflictual romantic relationships as primary forces in mothers' decisions not to marry. We propose an alternative reasoning for this paradox using symbolic interactionist theory and perspectives on poverty and uncertainty. Specifically, we highlight the contradictions between what women say about their desires to marry and what they actually do when the opportunity presents itself. We use exemplar cases from a longitudinal ethnographic study of low-income rural mothers to demonstrate our reasoning. Implications for future research and theory development are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on 45 in-depth interviews, textual analysis, and participant observation with seven different atheist organizations, this article investigates the collective identity work of atheists in the United States. It explores the social psychological and interactional dynamics of atheist organizations as well as how they contribute to the construction and maintenance of atheist identities. I discuss the various strategies atheists employ as they collectively manage a stigmatized identity and negotiate the meaning of their atheism with one another and with the nonatheist public. This is accomplished in part through an analysis of the identity politics and minority discourse contemporary atheists currently engage. In addition, and more broadly, this study explores the relationship between collective identity and social action through an analysis and description of contemporary atheist activism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined the hypothesis that threat alters the cognitive strategies used by high authoritarians in seeking out new political information from the environment. In a laboratory experiment, threat was manipulated through a“mortality salience” manipulation used in research on terror management theory (). Subjects (N=92) were then invited to read one of three editorial articles on the topic of capital punishment. We found that in the absence of threat, both low and high authoritarians were responsive to salient norms of evenhandedness in information selection, preferring exposure to a two-sided article that presents the merits of both sides of an issue to an article that selectively touts the benefits of the pro or con side of the issue. However, in the presence of threat, high but not low authoritarians became significantly more interested in exposure to an article containing uniformly pro-attitudinal arguments, and significantly less interested in a balanced, two-sided article. Finally, a path analysis indicated that selective exposure to attitude-congruent information led to more internally consistent policy attitudes and inhibited attitude change. Discussion focuses on the role of threat in conditioning the cognitive and attitudinal effects of authoritarianism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]