Symbolic Interactionism: Perspective and Method

This volume is a Festschrift for Professor Herbert Blumer, one of the foremost sociologists of today, and the chief proponent of the symbolic interactionist approach. The editor, Tamotsu Shibutani, has collected articles written by Dr. Blumer's students, colleagues and friends. These discussions represent a wide diversity of views as they investigate Dr. Blumer's areas of specialization: theory and methodology, social psychology, collective behavior, and sociology and social policy. The authors of these readings wish to honor Dr. Blumer for his contributions to sociology and to society. He has been a pioneer in a still underdeveloped discipline who has stressed the importance in inductive, exploratory inquiries as he called for a closer examination of human life. The readings not only discuss Dr. Blumer's accomplishments, but also criticize and elaborate upon his findings. The result is a book of readings which provides a thorough analysis of Herbert Blumer's approach to sociology.