“Diagnosis as Topic and as Resource: Reflections on the Epistemology and Ontology of Disease in Medical Sociology” by Darin Weinberg #sssi https://doi.org/10.1002/symb.504 cc @sociologylens

We have just published a new article by Darin Weinberg. In “Diagnosis as Topic and as Resource: Reflections on the Epistemology and Ontology of Disease in Medical Sociology” Weinberg argues that by demonstrating how framing the epistemology and ontology of disease in terms of the topics and resources of medical sociological analysis serves to clarify the work of thinking sociologically about disease and helps overcome protracted theoretical challenges that have persistently troubled medical sociological research.

SSSI Members can download the review by clicking the image below or HERE. To join SSSI and subscribe to Symbolic Interaction from $35 (£30) please click HERE.

New Issue! Symbolic Interaction Vol.43(3) cc @sociologlens #sssi #emca

Symbolic Interaction

Vol.43 No. 3

Table of Contents

ARTICLES

Outspoken Objects and Unspoken Myths: The Semiotics of Object‐Mediated Communication

Stephanie Peña‐Alves

Pages: 385-404

 

Distributed Selves: Shifting Inequities of Impression Management in Couples Living with Dementia

James Rupert Fletcher

Pages: 405-427

 

The Everyday Drama of Coproduction in Community Mental Health Services: Analyzing Welfare Workers’ Performance as the “Undercover Agent”

Sine Kirkegaard

Pages: 428-451

Surgical Identity Play: The Anatomy Lab Revisited

Alexandra H. Vinson

Pages: 452-471

Doing Fatherhood Online: Men’s Parental Identities, Experiences, and Ideologies on Social Media

Casey Scheibling

Pages: 472-492

The Body in Mind: Mead’s Embodied Cognition

Ryan McVeigh

Pages: 493-513

EDITOR’S INVITATION

Free Access

Pandemic in the Time of Trump: Digital Media Logic and Deadly Politics

David L. Altheide

Pages: 514-540

Free Access

Middle‐Range Future Claims: Constructing the Near‐Future Consequences of COVID‐19

Joel Best

Pages: 541-556

BOOK REVIEWS

Hurting Oneself to Maintain  the Interaction Order

Lindsey M. Ibañez

Pages: 557-559

Highlighting Male Rape: Researching Sensitive, Stigmatized, and Taboo Topics

Ben Colliver

Pages: 560-562

Lesson Plans for Future Research on Professional Socialization

Alexandra H. Vinson

Pages: 563-565

Old Jobs, New Vibes: How Distilling, Bartending, Barbering, and Butchering Became Cool

Erik T. Withers

Pages: 566-568

 

A Battle of the Ages

Clayton Childress

Pages: 569-571

“Middle‐Range Future Claims: Constructing the Near‐Future Consequences of COVID‐19” by Joel Best https://doi.org/10.1002/symb.499 cc @sociologylens #sssi #sociology #covid19 #impact #future #freeaccess

We have just published Joel Best’s article “Middle‐Range Future Claims: Constructing the Near‐Future Consequences of COVID‐19” on Early View of Symbolic Interaction. In this article Professor Best surveys those assertions and seeks to explain the factors that led to them. Exploring questions about future claims can expand the scope of social problems theory.

The paper is free to access HERE and by clicking the image below.

“Pandemic in the Time of Trump: Digital Media Logic and Deadly Politics” by David L. Altheide https://doi.org/10.1002/symb.501 #sssi #media #attention #politics cc @sociologylens

David L. Altheide is well known for his analysis of the media and his research on how the media can be used to, for example, create fear. We have just published Professor Altheide’s article “Pandemic in the Time of Trump: Digital Media Logic and Deadly Politics” on Early View of Symbolic Interaction. In this article, Professor Altheide explores how during the pandemic President Trump engaged in attention‐based politics, or the use of media to draw attention of the largest audience to himself, at the expense of an efficient response to a major public health crisis.

SSSI Members can download the review by clicking the image below or HERE. To join SSSI and subscribe to Symbolic Interaction from $35 (£30) please click HERE.

“Digitalization as “an Agent of Social Change” in a Supermarket Chain: Applying Blumer’s Theory of Industrialization in Contemporary Society” by Dirk vom Lehn (@dirkvl) https://doi.org/10.1002/symb.502 cc @sociologylens

Over the past two decades or so, the media have discussed how modern society is impacted by ‘digitalization’. It is argued that the deployment of emerging digital technology is changes how we live and work and build relationships with each other. In his article “Digitalization as “an Agent of Social Change” in a Supermarket Chain: Applying Blumer’s Theory of Industrialization in Contemporary Society” relativizes this argument by highlighting the interpretive processes that underlie the deployment of new technology in a supermarket chain. Through an analysis of oral history interviews, vom Lehn shows that particular interpretations of digital technology by managers and other staff influenced changes to the ecological and material arrangement of the company and required managers and staff to acquire knowledge and skills for their work.

SSSI Members can download the review by clicking the image below or HERE. To join SSSI and subscribe to Symbolic Interaction from $35 (£30) please click HERE.

The Relationship between Dating Practices and Setting https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/symb.153 cc @courtneybrubin @sociologylens #sssi #sociology #dating

In today’s New York Times, Courtney Rubin provides tips for dating safely in times of Covid-19. One aspect that plays only a minor role in Rubin’s article is the setting where the date takes places. This is somewhat surprising because we know that the likelihood of being infected in an indoor, badly ventilated environment is much higher than outdoors.

As interactionists we know about the importance of setting for the organization with others. In 2015, Julie A. Reid and colleagues investigated the relationship between setting and dating at college. Members of SSSI can access the article HERE and by clicking the image below.

Review of Adams & Anderson “Policing in Natural Disasters” by Patrick Parnaby #sssi #policing https://doi.org/10.1002/symb.500 cc @sociologylens

We have just published Patrick Parnaby’s (University of Guelph) review of Terri M. Adams and Leigh R. Anderson’s book “Policing in Natural Disasters: Stress, Resilience, and the Challenges of Emergency Management” on Early View of Symbolic Interaction. Parnaby writes that the book is worth reading because “Adams and Anderson’s work manages to pull back the curtain to reveal the lived experiences of our men and women in uniform”.

SSSI Members can download the review by clicking the image below or HERE. To join SSSI and subscribe to Symbolic Interaction from $35 (£30) please click HERE.

New Article: “Goffman’s Interest in Spies and Espionage” by Gary D. Jaworski #sssi #sociology https://doi.org/10.1002/symb.498 cc @sociologylens

In 2014, Symbolic Interaction published a Special Issue devoted to Erving Goffman. In that issue we published articles that explored Goffman’s life and intellectual work, in particular as it relates to mental health and emotions.

Relating to that Special Issue we now have published an article in which Gary D. Jaworski’s explores “Goffman’s Interest in Spies and Espionage: The University of Chicago Context”.

SSSI Members can download the article by clicking the image below or HERE. To join SSSI and subscribe to Symbolic Interaction from $35 (£30) please click HERE.

“Strange Days” (July 28 to 31) – Call for Participation #sssi #sociology #events

 “Strange Days Indeed:

Crisis, Change and Connection”

July 28-July 31

In an effort to create spaces for crucial conversations, camaraderie and intellectual exchange during this challenging time, the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction invites participants to a multi-day online social and professional event.  Registration information will follow, but the event is free and open to all, including non-SSSI members.

We welcome symbolic-interactionist talks and papers on any topic. In light of current events, we are particularly interested in conversations around racism and racial justice, policing and law enforcement, meanings of public/private space, public health and risk, and online interaction.

We are calling for:

Roundtable proposals: proposals must include a roundtable paper (maximum of 3500 words) and the names and email addresses of 4-6 participants.  Roundtables will occur via Zoom, and papers will be shared on Google Docs. 

Mini-session abstracts:  detailed description of a 10-15 minute talk.  Mini-sessions will feature 2-3 speakers and will occur over Zoom.

“Video Volley” abstracts (detailed description of a conversation topic).  These may be discussion questions, informal descriptions of works-in-progress, ethnographic videography, or visual sociology items. 

Video Volley sessions are for dynamic, asynchronous back-and-forth chat around common interests throughout the event.  They will be asynchronous video conversations occurring through the (very simple!) video-sharing program FlipGrid (available on iPhone, Android, PC and Mac).

Strange Days will also feature coffee klatches, cocktail hours, trivia events, and an open-mic night during the event.  (Please indicate whether you have interest in any/all of these activities in your submission.) 

In order to plan a successful event in a very short time, we welcome submissions as soon as possible, but must adhere to a hard deadline of July 1^st.  Please specify in the subject line whether your submission is a roundtable proposal, a mini-session abstract, or a Video Volley abstract. 

Please email all submissions and questions to: SSSIStrangeDays@gmail.com   

New Article: “Reframing ‘Dirty Work’: The Case of Homeless Shelter Workers” by Julian Torelli and Anthony Puddephatt #sssi #sociology cc @sociologylens

There is a long-standing tradition in symbolic interactionism to investigate the work with vulnerable people. Recently (Vol.42(4)), for example, we published Carley Geiss’s paper “Connecting Practical Doings to Cultural Meanings: Exploring the Work of Moral Mediators in Human Service Organizations” in which the author explores the emotional labor of caseworkers.

We now have published the article “Reframing ‘Dirty Work’: The Case of Homeless Shelter Workers” by Julian Torelli and Anthony Puddephatt. The authors investigate how caseworkers navigate an occupation that is often physically and morally trying, and at times, objectionable. In particular, they are concerned with how caseworkers identify and define “dirty work”.

SSSI Members can download the article by clicking the image below or HERE. To join SSSI and subscribe to Symbolic Interaction from $35 (£30) please click HERE.

Review of Jean Peneff’s book “Howard Becker: Sociology and Music in the Chicago School” #sssi #sociology https://doi.org/10.1002/symb.496 cc @sociologylens

The history of this journal “Symbolic Interaction” is closely intertwined with Howard Becker, not only because he was our inaugurating editor in 1977. Lot’s has been written by Howard Becker over the decades, including his books “Evidence” reviewed by Dagmar Danko in 2018 and “What about Mozart? What about Murder?” reviewed by Scott Grills in 2016.

We now have published Scott Grills’s review of Jean Peneff’s book “Howard Becker: Sociology and Music in the Chicago School” (translated by Robert Dingwall). SSSI Members can download the review by clicking the image below or HERE. To join SSSI and subscribe to Symbolic Interaction from $35 (£30) please click HERE.

Further of interest to readers of Symbolic Interaction, amongst others:

Andrea Ploder’s review of Dagmar Danko’s introduction to Becker’s work. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/symb.496

Thaddaeus Mueller’s article “Chicago, Jazz and Marijuana: Howard Becker on Outsiders” https://doi.org/10.1002/symb.119

and

Tom DeGloma’s fascinating interview of Clinton Sanders

Hans Bakker’s review of ‘The Social Life of Nothing’ by Susie Scott #sssi #sociology – https://doi.org/10.1002/symb.489

I guess if Susie Scott would write her book “The Social Life of Nothing. Silence, Invisibility and Emptiness in Tales of Lost Experience” now in the middle of the Covid-19 crisis while we all ponder and share tales of lost experiences – e.g. the cancelled SSSI Conference in Pisa -, she could easily add a large number of chapters. Well, the book came out prior to Covid and Hans Bakker was so kind to review it for us.

SSSI Members can download the review by clicking the image below or HERE. To join SSSI and subscribe to Symbolic Interaction from $35 (£30) please click HERE.

Edmonds and Greiffenhagen “Configuring Prospective Sensations: Experimenters Preparing Participants for What They Might Feel” https://doi.org/10.1002/symb.485 #sssi #emca #sociology #sensations #psychologicalexperiments cc @sociologylens

In their paper “Configuring Prospective Sensations: Experimenters Preparing Participants for ‘What They Might Feel'” David M. Edmonds and Christian Greiffenhagen investigate how in cognitive neuroscience experimenters describe and demonstrate prospective sensations for participants. In their study they show that experimenters often describe sensations “by negation” (saying what participants will not experience) and sometimes “indirectly” (for example, by formulating what they will do). They reveal that these descriptions are elaborated through demonstrations of sensations, both on the experimenters’ and the participants’ bodies. Importantly, they document how the interplay of the description and demonstration of sensations is important in reassuring participants about the nonharmful nature of the tool and its use.

SSSI Members can download the article by clicking the image below or HERE. To join SSSI and subscribe to Symbolic Interaction from $35 (£30) please click HERE.

“Some Discovered Practices of Lay Coffee Drinkers” by Giolo Fele and Ken Liberman on Early View https://doi.org/10.1002/symb.486 cc @sociologylens

Another paper that will be included in the Special Issue on “The Senses in Social Interaction” is “Some Discovered Practices of Lay Coffee Drinkers” by Giolo Fele and Ken Liberman. As ethnomethodologists they reveal the systematic practices through which lay coffee drinkers identify flavours. These methods include clustering, objectivating, and calibrating.

SSSI Members can download the article by clicking the image below or HERE. To join SSSI and subscribe to Symbolic Interaction from $35 (£30) please click HERE.

“‘Sensory Ordering’ in Nurses’ Clinical Decision‐Making” by Grosjean, Matte, and Nahon‐Serfaty #sssi #sociology #senses https://doi.org/10.1002/symb.490PDF cc @sociologylens

As part of the forthcoming Special Issue on ‘The Senses in Social Interaction’ we have just published Sylvie Grosjean, Frederick Matter and Isaac Nahon-Serfaty’s article ““Sensory Ordering” in Nurses’ Clinical Decision‐Making: Making Visible Senses, Sensing, and “Sensory Work” in the Hospital”. The authors examine “sensory work” in clinical decision‐making in order to reveal its specificity in the clinical work of nurses. 

SSSI Members can download the article by clicking the image below or HERE. To join SSSI and subscribe to Symbolic Interaction from $35 (£30) please click HERE.

Philippe Sormani’s review of “Daten-Karrieren und epistemische Materialitaet”#sssi #sociology #ethnomethodology #emca https://doi.org/10.1002/symb.488 cc @sociologylens

From time to time, we have books reviewed in Symbolic Interaction that have not been published in English. One such book is Christian Meier zu Verl’s “Daten-Karrieren und epistemische Materialität: Eine wissenschaftssoziologische Studie zur methodologischen Praxis der Ethnografie” [Data Careers and Epistemic Materiality], that Philippe Sormani subjected to a critical examination for us.

SSSI Members can download the article by clicking the image below or HERE. To join SSSI and subscribe to Symbolic Interaction from $35 (£30) please click HERE.

‘Sociology and Pandemics’ video by Professor Robert Dingwall (@rwjdingwall) #sssi #sociology #pandemics #video

Professor Robert Dingwall, the previous editor of Symbolic Interaction, is a sociologist with expertise on pandemics and a member of the British advisory group NERVTAG, “The New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group”.

Professor Dingwall has just published a video in which he answers questions about society’s responses to pandemics, including COVID-19, students from Nassau Community College, Garden City (NY), have asked.

Judson Everitt’s (@everjudson) review of “Between Teaching and Caring in the Preschool Teaching” by John Pruit https://doi.org/10.1002/symb.487 #sssi

We have just published Judson Everitt’s review “Emotions, Interactions, and Institutions in Preschool Teaching” of John Pruit’s book “Between Teaching and Caring in the Preschool” on Eary View of Symbolic Interaction. Everitt argues that Pruit’s book makes an important contribution to our understanding of identity construction in the symbolic interactionist tradition. The book would serve as valuable reading for courses in the sociology of education, sociology of childhood, or self and society. Moreover, it is a wonderful analysis of preschool teaching that showcases exactly how and why face-to-face interaction matters so profoundly in education.

SSSI Members can download the article by clicking the image below or HERE. To join SSSI and subscribe to Symbolic Interaction from $35 (£30) please click HERE.

Brad Ictech “Smartphones and Face-to-Face Interaction” #sssi #technology #sociology https://doi.org/10.1002/symb.406 cc @BradIctech

In his article “Smartphones and Face-to-Face Interaction: Digital Cross-Talk during Encounters in Everyday Life’ published in our journal’s 2019 Thematic Issue on ‘Technology, the Internet, and Social Media’ (Vol.42(1)) Brad Ictech explores the impact smartphone use has on face-to-face encounters.

Click HERE for access to the article and the Thematic Issue.

New Article by Celeste Vaughan Curington ““We’re the Show at the Circus”: Racially Dissecting the Multiracial Body” https://doi.org/10.1002/symb.484 #sssi @SociologyLens

In her paper “”“We’re the Show at the Circus”: Racially Dissecting the Multiracial Body” Celeste Vaughan Curington explores how the meaning and consequence of multiraciality are formed within a racialized interaction order.

SSSI Members can download the article by clicking the image below or HERE. To join SSSI and subscribe to Symbolic Interaction from $35 (£30) please click HERE.