NETWORK AND MEANING: AN INTERACTIONIST APPROACH TO STRUCTURE*

Gary Alan Fine · Sherryl Kleinman

205 citations0/0 files storedSymbolic Interaction

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Abstract

Social network is a concept interactionists might use to link individual behavior to the larger social system. A symbolic interactionist formulation of network would: 1) approximate the original, anthropological usage better than the current structural conception does, 2) offer symbolic interactionists a unit of social organization better suited to their perspective than the small group, and 3) allow symbolic interactionists to deal with “macro” sociological concerns. Network is conceived of as a set of relationships which people imbue with meaning and use for personal or collective purposes. By emphasizing subjective meaning and the investigation of multi‐purpose and weak ties, the interactionist formulation provides theoretical insights into those aspects of society which “structural” approaches overlook.

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References

1973The Strength of Weak Ties 1954What is Wrong with Social Theory?1980Symbolic Interactionism: A Social Structural Version 1954Class and Committees in a Norwegian Island Parish 2017What Is Wrong with Social Theory?1955Reference Groups as Perspectives 1977A Macrosociological Theory of Social Structure 1978The Role and the Person

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