The Oxford Handbook of Symbolic Interactionism

The Oxford Handbook of Symbolic Interactionism features a diverse array of cutting-edge scholarship in symbolic interactionism (SI). Contributors present original research in various established and emerging areas of concern while outlining key theoretical and methodological foundations of this multifaceted and broadly relevant perspective in the field of sociology. The scholars featured in this volume present new and evolving outlooks on foundational SI themes including the self and identity, the interactive construction of meaning, classical pragmatism, interactionist research methods, performance, culture and subcultures, cognition, emotion, organizations and institutions, and social constructionism. Contributors merge these and other traditional concepts and perspectives of symbolic interactionism with a range of other influences to bring SI to bear on various developing areas of research, and to address a variety of new and interesting questions, problems, and issues. These include issues pertaining to race and racism, gender, sex and sexuality, power, digital technologies and computer-mediated interaction, crime, health and illness, and environmental concerns.

Presenting an expansive and forward-looking take on symbolic interactionism while providing readers with valuable tools with which to conduct their own research, this handbook addresses important developments that are reshaping the field. The handbook is organized into four parts: (I) theoretical and methodological orientations; (II) culture, context, and symbolic interaction; (III) power and inequalities; and (IV) environment, disasters, and risk. In each part, contributors demonstrate the timely and unique contributions of symbolic interactionism to our understanding of important issues and social problems in the contemporary world.