Interactionist Theories Of Culture Flashcards
What are interactionists concerned with?
The details of social life in every day interaction
What don’t they deny?
That there are important wide structures and institutions
What do they stress?
Culture is produced from the bottom up at least as much from the top down
Micro sociology
Culture is produced by the individuals as they interact
Social action
The decisions and actions of individuals in social settings
Social structure
How society is put together
What do individuals have the ability to do?
Change the culture of society by acting differently
Mead and Blumer
Social structures largely consist of roles (mother, father)
What do roles have associated with them
Norms (how a good father may act)
How were the roles flexible?
Open to interpretation and change
- over time roles change 1950 - housewife to having a job
Goffman
Developed idea of interaction order
- two or more people have the potential to interact with each other
What can interaction order involve?
Long standing relationships or passing relationships
What does Goffman say about other sociologists?
That they see interaction order as simply the effects of wider social structures and relationships (like class, gender)
What does Goffman say interaction order actually is?
A distinctive sphere of social life in its own right
What does interaction order require
People to collaborate and coordinate their movements and actions
- body, facial expressions
