The Oxford Handbook Of Symbolic Interactionism

The Oxford Handbook of Symbolic Interactionism features a diverse array of cutting-edge scholarship in symbolic interactionism (SI). 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.

Symbolic interactionism has a long history in sociology, social psychology, and related social sciences. In this volume, the editors and contributors explain its history, major theoretical tenets and concepts, methods of doing symbolic interactionist work, and its uses and findings in a host of substantive research areas.

Conceived as the meanings that individuals attach to their selves, a substantial stockpile of theory related to identities accumulated across the arts, social sciences, and humanities over many decades continues to nourish contemporary research on self-identities in organizations. In times which are more reflexive, narcissistic, and fluid, the identities of participants in organizations are increasingly less fixed and less certain, making identity issues both more salient and more interesting. Particular attention has been given to processes of identity construction, often styled 'identity work'. Research has focused on how, why, and when such processes occur, and their implications for organizing and individual, group, and organizational outcomes. This has resulted in a burgeoning stream of research from discursive, dramaturgical, symbolic, socio-cognitive, and psychodynamic perspectives that most often casts individuals' efforts to fabricate identities as intentional, relational, and consequential. Seemingly intractable debates centred on the nature of identities - their relative stability or fluidity, whether they are best regarded as coherent or fractured, positive (or not), and how they are fabricated within relations of power - combined with other conceptual issues continue to invigorate the field. However, these debates have also led to some scepticism regarding the future potential of identities research. Yet as the chapters in this Handbook demonstrate, there are considerable grounds for optimism that identity, as root metaphor, nexus concept, and means to bridge levels of analysis has significant potential to generate multiple compelling streams of theorizing in organization and management studies.

The Oxford Handbook of Qualitative Research, Second Edition presents a comprehensive, interdisciplinary overview of the field of qualitative research. Divided into eight parts, the forty chapters address key topics in the field such as approaches to qualitative research (philosophical perspectives), narrative inquiry, field research, and interview methods, text, arts-based, and internet methods, analysis and interpretation of findings, and representation and evaluation. The handbook is intended for students of all levels, faculty, and researchers across the disciplines, and the contributors represent some of the most influential and innovative researchers as well as emerging scholars. This handbook provides a broad introduction to the field of qualitative research to those with little to no background in the subject, while providing substantive contributions to the field that will be of interest to even the most experienced researchers. It serves as a user-friendly teaching tool suitable for a range of undergraduate or graduate courses, as well as individuals working on their thesis or other research projects. With a focus on methodological instruction, the incorporation of real-world examples and practical applications, and ample coverage of writing and representation, this volume offers everything readers need to undertake their own qualitative studies.

Organizations are a defining feature of the modern world, and the study of organizations (organization studies) has become well established in both sociology departments and professional schools, most notably business and management schools. Organization studies has long drawn inspiration from foundational work in sociology. The sociological lens affords depth of insight into the technological, economic, cultural, and political forces that shape organizations from both within and without. In particular, "classical" works in sociology have long energized organizational research, primarily by suggesting ways of making sense of the ever-accelerating pace of social change. In recent decades, however, the field has lost interest in these sociology classics. This trend reflects and reinforces an increasingly inward-looking and academic focus of contempory organization studies. Not only does this trend weaken organization studies' engagement with the big social issues of our time, but it isolates the field from the broader field of the social sciences. The aim of this Handbook is to re-assert the importance of classical sociology to the future of organization studies. Alongside several thematic chapters, the volume includes chapters on each of nearly two dozen major European and American theorists. Each of these chapter addressing: (a) the ideas and their context, (b) the impact of these ideas on the field of organization studies, and (c) the potential future research these ideas might inspire. The goal is not reverential exegesis, but rather to examine how the classics can energize organizational research. This wide-ranging Handbook, with contributions from leading American and European scholars, will be a vital, informative, and stimulating resource for anybody undertaking research in, teaching, or interested in learning more about organization studies today.

We live in a society of organisations, organisations which have profound and pervasive effects on our lives at work and beyond. Contemporary society and its organisations are in a period of accelerated, profound change. In this book, leading sociology and organsational scholars consider how 'classic' sociologists can help make sense of change.

Highlighting fruitful accomplishments achieved by a range of symbolic interactionists, this volume exhibits the significance of studying inequality, a venture that not only enriches symbolic interactionism but human life as a whole.