Table Of ContentTHE ROUTLEDGE INTERNATIONAL
HANDBOOK OF INTERACTIONISM
The Routledge International Handbook of Interactionism demonstrates the promise and diversity of
the interactionist perspective in social science today, providing students and practitioners with
an overview of the impressive developments in interactionist theory, methods and research.
Thematically organized, it explores the history of interactionism and the contemporary
state of the field, considering the ways in which scholars approach topics that are central to
interactionism. As such, it presents discussions of self, identity, gender and sexuality, race,
emotions, social organization, media and the Internet and social problems. With attention
to new developments in methods and methodologies, including digital ethnography, visual
methods and research ethics, the authors also engage with new areas of investigation that
have emerged in light of current societal developments, such as policing and police violence,
interactionism beyond binaries and social media. Providing a comprehensive overview of the
current state and possible future of interactionist research, it will appeal to interactionist scholars,
as well as to established sociologists and students of sociology who have an interest in the latest
developments in interactionism.
Dirk vom Lehn is Professor of Organisation and Practice at King’s Business School, King’s
College London, UK. He is the author of Harold Garfinkel: The Creation and Development of
Ethnomethodology.
Natalia Ruiz-Junco is Associate Professor of Sociology at Auburn University, USA, and
co-editor of Updating Charles H. Cooley: Contemporary Perspectives on a Sociological Classic.
Will Gibson is Reader in Social Research Methods at University College London, Institute
of Education, UK, and co-author of Institutions, Interaction and Social Theory and Working with
Qualitative Data.
THE ROUTLEDGE
INTERNATIONAL
HANDBOOK OF
INTERACTIONISM
Edited by Dirk vom Lehn, Natalia Ruiz-Junco
and Will Gibson
First published 2021
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2021 selection and editorial matter, Dirk vom Lehn, Natalia Ruiz-Junco
and Will Gibson; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Dirk vom Lehn, Natalia Ruiz-Junco and Will Gibson to be
identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for
their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections
77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: vom Lehn, Dirk, editor. | Ruiz-Junco, Natalia, editor. |
Gibson, William J., editor.
Title: The Routledge international handbook of interactionism / edited by
Dirk vom Lehn, Natalia Ruiz-Junco and Will Gibson.
Description: 1 Edition. | New York : Routledge, 2021. | Series:
Routledge international handbooks | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020054816 (print) | LCCN 2020054817 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780367227708 (hardback) | ISBN 9780429276767 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Symbolic interactionism. | Social interaction. |
Social psychology—Methodology.
Classification: LCC HM499 .R68 2021 (print) | LCC HM499 (ebook) |
DDC 302—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020054816
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020054817
ISBN: 978-0-367-22770-8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-00994-0 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-27676-7 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
CONTENTS
List of contributors ix
PART 1
Introduction 1
1 Introduction 3
Dirk vom Lehn, Natalia Ruiz-Junco and Will Gibson
PART 2
Varieties of interactionism 23
2 Pragmatism and interaction 25
Frithjof Nungesser
3 Herbert Blumer, symbolic interactionism, and 21st-century sociology 37
Thomas J. Morrione
4 Straussian negotiated order theory c. 1960–present 47
Adele E. Clarke
5 Recent developments in the new Iowa School of symbolic interactionism 59
Michael Katovich and Shing-Ling S. Chen
6 Dramaturgical frameworks and interactionism 70
Greg Smith
7 Ethnomethodology and conversation analysis: the other interactionism 82
Jason Turowetz and Anne Warfield Rawls
v
Contents
PART 3
Self, identity and emotions 97
8 Click, validate, and reply: three paradoxes of the terminal self 99
Simon Gottschalk
9 Animal selfhood 112
Leslie Irvine
10 The self and the supernatural 122
Rachael Ironside
11 The (un)healthy body and the self 134
Lisa Jean Moore and Sumayra Khan
12 Identity and racialization 145
Matthew W. Hughey and Michael L. Rosino
13 Symbolic interaction beyond binaries 156
J.E. Sumerau
14 Culture and emotion: interactionist perspectives 166
E. Doyle McCarthy
PART 4
Social organisation 179
15 Organizations and institutions 181
Patrick J.W. McGinty
16 Symbolic interactionism, social structure, and social change: historical
debates and contemporary challenges 194
Stacey Hannem
17 Mental health and symbolic interactionism: untapped opportunities 205
Baptiste Brossard
18 Handling video of [police] violence: theoretical versus practical analyses 215
Patrick G. Watson and Albert J. Meehan
19 Space, mobility, and interaction 231
Robin James Smith
vi
Contents
20 Nature and the environment in interaction 242
Antony Puddephatt
21 The social organization of time 254
Michael G. Flaherty
22 Collective memory 264
Lisa-Jo K. van den Scott
PART 5
Interactionism, media and the Internet 275
23 Media logic, fear, and the construction of terrorism 277
David L. Altheide
24 Public fear and the media 288
Joel Best
25 Policing and social media 298
Christopher J. Schneider
26 Interactionism and online identity: how has interactionism
contributed to understandings of online identity? 310
Hannah Ditchfield
27 Physical co-presence and distinctive features of online interactions 322
Xiaoli Tian and Yui Fung Yip
28 Happy birthday, Michael Jackson: dead celebrity and online interaction 332
Kerry O. Ferris
29 Multiplayer online gaming 343
David Kirschner
PART 6
New developments in methods 355
30 Situational analysis as critical pragmatist interactionism 357
Carrie Friese, Adele E. Clarke and Rachel Washburn
31 Video in interactionist research 369
René Tuma
vii
Contents
32 Digital naturalism: ethnography in networked worlds 381
Michael Dellwing
33 Ethics in symbolic interactionist research 391
Deborah K. van den Hoonaard and Will C. van den Hoonaard
PART 7
Reimagining interactionism 401
34 Toward an expanded definition of symbolic interactionism 403
Linda Liska Belgrave, Kapriskie “Kikie” Seide and Kathy Charmaz
35 Some antinomies of interactionism 416
Martyn Hammersley
36 Interactionist research: extending methods, extending fields 425
Emilie Morwenna Whitaker and Paul Atkinson
37 The new horizons of symbolic interactionism 435
Kent Sandstrom, Lisa-Jo K. van den Scott and Gary Alan Fine
Index 447
viii
CONTRIBUTORS
Editors
Dirk vom Lehn is Professor of Organisation and Practice at King’s Business School, King’s
College London, UK. He is the author of Harold Garfinkel: The Creation and Development of
Ethnomethodology (Routledge, 2014).
Natalia Ruiz-Junco is Associate Professor of Sociology at Auburn University, USA, and co-
editor of Updating Charles H. Cooley: Contemporary Perspectives on a Sociological Classic (Rout-
ledge, 2018).
Will Gibson is Reader in Social Research Methods at University College London, Institute
of Education, UK, and co-author of Institutions, Interaction and Social Theory (Palgrave, 2016)
and Working with Qualitative Data (Sage, 2009).
Contributors
David L. Altheide, PhD, is Regents’ Professor Emeritus on the faculty of Justice and Social
Inquiry in the School of Social Transformation at Arizona State University, where he taught
for 37 years. His work has focused on the role of mass media and information technology in
social control. His most recent books are Terrorism and the Politics of Fear (2nd Edition, Rowman
and Littlefield, 2017), and The Media Syndrome (Routledge, 2016). His awards from the SSSI
include the Cooley Award for Outstanding Book (3 times), the George Herbert Mead Award
for lifetime contributions, and the Mentor Achievement Award.
Paul Atkinson is Distinguished Research Professor (Emeritus) in Sociology at Cardiff Univer-
sity, UK. Professor Atkinson is very well known as an expert of interactionism and qualitative
research methods.
Linda Liska Belgrave is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Miami, hav-
ing earned her PhD at Case Western Reserve University in 1985. She works in the areas of
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