Richard Bernstein expressed the view that pragmatism was ahead of its time; the same has been true of symbolic interactionism. These two closely related perspectives, one philosophical and the other sociological, place human action at the center of their explanatory schemes. It has not mattered what aspect of social or psychological behavior was under scrutiny. Whether selves, minds, or emotions, or institutions, social structures, or social change, all have been conceptualized as forms of human activity. This view is the simple genius of these perspectives. Anselm Strauss always took ideas pertaining to action and process seriously. Here he makes explicit the theory of action that implicitly guided his research for roughly forty years. It is understood that Strauss accepts the proposition that acting (or even better, interacting) causes social structure. He lays the basis for this idea in the nineteen assumptions he articulates early in the book--assumptions that elaborate and make clearer Herbert Blumer's famous premises of symbolic interactionism. The task Strauss put before himself is how to keep the complexity of human group life in front of the researcher/theorist and simultaneously articulate an analytical scheme that clarifies and reveals that complexity. With these two imperfectly related issues before him, Strauss outlines an analytical scheme of society in action. It is a scheme that rests not on logical necessity but on research and observation, and the concepts he uses are proposed because they do a certain amount of analytical work. One would be well advised to take Continual Permutations of Action very seriously.

Continual Permutations of Action

Politics & Social Sciences

Strauss, Anselm L.

Maines, David R.

Philosophy

Routledge

Transforming Catholicism: Liturgical Change in the Vatican II Church

The Constitution of Sacred Liturgy is widely regarded as the most significant among the sixteen documents produced by the Second Vatican Council. The constitution has radically redefined the methods and meanings of Catholic worship, including a shift from rote enactment of rituals, to the laity as a spiritual community. Transforming Catholicism offers the first social scientific analysis of these liturgical changes in worship and their implementations in local situations. Guided by a consistent theory of policy implementation, Michael J. McCallion and David R. Maines examine the growing emphasis placed on biblical interpretations of sacred meanings, interpretative homilies, and the production of mass in local languages. This book incorporates first-hand empirical data in studying the influence of professional liturgists on parish worship practices and the subsequent symbolic interactionist theories. Transforming Catholicism is a sophisticated and engaging read that will captivate seminary professors and those interested in policy analysis.

Reference

McCallion, Michael J.

Encyclopedias & Subject Guides

Lexington Books

The Constitution of Sacred Liturgy is widely regarded as the most significant among the sixteen documents produced by the Second Vatican Council. The constitution has radically redefined the methods and meanings of Catholic worship, including a shift from rote enactment of rituals, to the laity as a spiritual community. Transforming Catholicism offers the first social scientific analysis of these liturgical changes in worship and their implementations in local situations. Guided by a consistent theory of policy implementation, Michael J. McCallion and David R. Maines examine the growing emphasis placed on biblical interpretations of sacred meanings, interpretative homilies, and the production of mass in local languages. This book incorporates first-hand empirical data in studying the influence of professional liturgists on parish worship practices and the subsequent symbolic interactionist theories. Transforming Catholicism is a sophisticated and engaging read that will captivate seminary professors and those interested in policy analysis.

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