SOC 1001 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Symbolic Interactionism, Erving Goffman, Consumerism
Document Summary
Theoretical orientations: functionalism (durkheim, conflict theory (marx, symbolic interactionism (goffman) Foundational concept because it posits that social reality and human society are not given. How we give meaning to things and ideas through social interaction but made; not natural but constructed across history and through human actions. Childhood; adolescence & food: fried grasshoppers, chocolate covered ants. Hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes not natural; the product of built environments. Another way to make the point about social construction. Roads, bridges, buildings; once built, they must be maintained. Owning a house initial purchase, the upkeep. Nothing lasts forever; things have to be constantly made and remade, reinforced. Most of our lives as made as constructed . Involves bother the physical making of things as well as giving meaning to actions and things. The concept of culture comes in: meaning understandings, ideas. An entity exists because people behave as if it exists. People and institutions follow and perpetuate formal rules or informal norms.
