Table Of ContentCONTINUAL PERMUTATIONS
OF ACTION
CONTINUAL PERMUTATIONS
OF ACTION
Anselm L. Strauss
ALDINE DE GRUYTER
New York
About the Author
Anselm L. Strauss, Emeritus Professor and Founder of the Department of Social
and Behavioral Sciences,U niversity of California, San Francisco, isw idely known
for his theoretical writings. Among his notable books are The Discovery of
Grounded Theory (Aldine, 1969), written with Barney Glaser; Mirrors and Masks
(1958); and Negotiations (1978).
Dr. Strauss’s research has been mainly in the areas of the sociology of work,
occupations, and professions, and in the sociology of health. Apart from the titles
cited, he has also published numerous other books and journal articles.
Copyright 0 1993 Walter de Gruyter, Inc., New York
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ALDINE DE GRUYTER
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This publication is printed on acid-free paper 8
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Strauss, Anselm L.
Continual permutations of action / Anselm L. Strauss.
p. cm. -(C ommunication and social order)
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 0-202-30471-X (cloth). -IS BN 0-202-30472-8 (pbk.)
1. Action theory. 2. Social interaction. IT. itle. 11. Series.
HM24S773 1993
302-dc20 93-4075
CIP
Manufactured in the United States of America
1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To
the Memories of
Alfred R. Lindesmith
and
Fred Davis
Close Friends and Intellectual Companions
"[Tlhe very nature of the investigation.. . c ompels us to travel over
a wide field of thought crisscrossed in every direction. The .. .r e-
marks int his book are, as it were, sketches of landscape which were
made in thceo urse of these long and involved journeyings. The same
or almost the same points were always being approached from
different directions, and new sketches made."
L. Wittgenstein-Preface to Philosophical Investigations
Contents
Acknoxwi ledg ments
Foreword by David R. Maines xiii
INTRODUCTION 1
Pragmatism and Chicago Sociological Interaction 1
Chicago Sociology and Action/Interaction 4
Narrative: Autobiographical Detail and
Collective Biography 5
A Slow Recognition 11
Assumptions, and Theories of Action 13
PART I
1. ASSUMPTIONSO F A THEORYO FA CTION 19
Contrasts 19
Basic Assumptions of a Theory of Action 21
Definitions 22
A List of Assumptions 23
A Final Comment 45
2. AN INTERACTIONIST THEORY OF ACTION 47
Introductory Remarks 48
Work, A Major Form of Action 51
Trajectory and Related Concepts 52
Subconcepts 54
Additional Concepts 57
A Conditional Matrix 60
Properties and Types, and Local Concepts 65
A Note on Types of Experiences 68
The Usefulness of a Theory of Action 70
vii
viii Contents
PART I1
A Preliminary Note and Analysis 75
3. WORK AND THE INTERSECTION OF FORMS
OF ACTION 81
Work as Rational and Its Rationalization 82
History within the Work 84
Routines and Contingencies 85
The Centrality of Interaction for Work 86
Work in Relation to Other Forms of Action 93
Biographical Work and Its Intersections 97
4. BODY,B ODYP ROCESSES,A NDI NTERACTION 107
Body as a Necessary Condition for Action 108
Body as Agent 110
Body as Object 110
Self-As Subject, As Object-And Body 111
Mental Activity and the Mind 112
Intentional and Unintentional Action in
Relation to Body 113
The Body and Temporal Aspects of Interaction 117
Contextual Conditions for Body in Interaction 117
Body-Mind Metaphors 118
Symbolization and the Body 119
Action, Performance, and Appearance 120
Body Processes 121
"Having an Experience" 122
5. INTERACTION,T HOUGHTP ROCESSES,
AND BIOGRAPHY 127
Thought Processes as Action 129
Thought Processes and Biographical Processes 136
A Case History 138
A Final Note 146
Contents ix
6. INTERACTINGA NDS YMBOLIZING 149
Language and Symbolizing 150
Symbols, Symbolizing, and Symbolic Products 151
Motivations, Symbolizations, and Interactions 153
Symbolic Universes 155
Collapse, Loss, and Estrangement from
Symbolic Universes 157
Social Worlds and Symbolization 159
A Case Study of Symbolization: Urban
Images of Chicago 160
Large-scale Symbolization 162
Diffuse Collective Symbolizations 166
7. REPRESENTATIONA NDM ISREPRESENTATION
IN INTERACTION 169
Difficulties in Interpreting Representations 170
Representation versus "Presentation of Self" 172
Representational Interactions 173
Representing in the Interactions 176
Strategic Interaction 187
8. THE INTERPLAY OF ROUTINEA ND
NONROUTINE ACTION 191
Routine Action 193
The Complex Nature of Routines and
Routine Actions 194
Routine, Innovation, and Creativity 200
9. SOCIALW ORLDSA NDS OCIETY 209
Asserted or Presumed Dominance of Social Class,
Race, Gender, and Other Social Units 210
A Social-World Perspective 212
Social-World Processes 215
