Symbolic Interactionism - Sociology and Everyday Life (week 4)

Module: Sociology and Everyday Life


Week 4 – Symbolic Interactionism


Symbolic Interactionism
 Symbolic Interactionism takes a different starting point to Functionalist
explanations of how society works.

 Functionalism sees society as acting a bit like an organism – they talk about how
various things aids society to run smoothly. It favours the notion of structure.

 Symbolic Interactionism stresses the fact that society is dynamic (always
changing).

 It gives more agency – people are able to attach meaning to the things they do.


Key ideas of Symbolic Interactionism
 We are agents – we shape our own realities.

 Through the interaction with other people, we are able to change the world. We
are then able to define the world around us, what things are true and not true
(definition through interaction with one another).

 We learn roles and learn how to behave in front of others

 A bottom up of sociology

 It acknowledges how creative people are

 Meaning  e.g. what are the meanings that people attach to the food they eat?

 Self-identity  we look at how other people respond to us as we grow up which
affects how we respond and present ourselves to other people.

 Micro interaction  e.g. what meaning do people attach to social class?



Philosophical roots to Symbolic Interactionism

William James  self in 4 dimensions
 The material self – e.g. clothes, possessions, house we live in, the objects we
surround ourselves in, stuffs we accumulate. It’s an expression of who we are.