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The Interactional Community: Emergent Fields of Collective Agency*
Author(s) -
Bessant Kenneth C.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
sociological inquiry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.446
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1475-682X
pISSN - 0038-0245
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-682x.2012.00424.x
Subject(s) - symbolic interactionism , agency (philosophy) , sociology , field (mathematics) , perspective (graphical) , epistemology , action (physics) , collective action , focus (optics) , social relation , the symbolic , social psychology , social science , psychology , psychoanalysis , political science , computer science , law , politics , philosophy , physics , mathematics , optics , quantum mechanics , artificial intelligence , pure mathematics
Social interaction is generally regarded as elemental to the notion of community. Within the broader discourse on community, the field‐interactional perspective is distinctive in its explicit focus on emergent social processes and community change dynamics. Wilkinson (1970) extended Kaufman’s (1959) early work on the interactional approach through an application of the social field concept to community action. In doing so, Wilkinson (1991) outlined several key linkages between social–symbolic interaction and community agency. Despite these promising beginnings, only a modicum of research has examined the theoretical or philosophical underpinnings of the interactional conception of community. This article explores the symbolic‐interactionist tenets undergirding the field‐interactional approach, most notably Mead’s (1934, 1938) discussion of generalized social attitudes and Blumer’s (1969a, 1969b) work on joint or collective action.