Examines the theory and methods by which social scientists study the human lived experienced.

Despite the considerable attention given to 'power' by foundational sources such as Machiavelli, Hobbs, Weber, Durkheim, and Marx, and those social theorists who have built on their works, surprisingly little attention has been given to the study of power as an enacted feature of community life. Locating power more directly within a symbolic interactionist framework, Beyond the Power Mystique not only enables scholars to permeate much of the mystique shrouding power but, explicitly viewing power as intersubjective accomplishment, the material presented here fosters a research agenda that is highly attentive to the collectively articulated aspects of power relations. Consideration is given to the ways in which power is brought into existence, implemented, experienced, sustained, objectified, resisted, dissipated, and reconstituted in actual practice. Addressing the full range of associations occurring in all human arenas, from small group settings to large scale theaters of operations, this volume provides a conceptually viable means of synthesizing so-called "macro" and "micro" realms of power. Prus considers people's definitions of, and routings into, situations of power, as well as the dilemmas they face, the strategies they assume, and the limitations they encounter as they enter into interchanges with others on both more individualized and collectively coordinated bases and in both long-term and more situated instances.

The concept of ’subculture’ is an invaluable tool to frame the study of non-normative and marginal cultures for social and cultural scholars. This international collection uncovers the significance of meaning-making in the processes of defining, studying and analyzing subcultural phenomena. Examining various dimensions of interpretivism, the book focuses on overarching concerns related to interpretation as well as day-to-day considerations that affect researchers’ and members’ interpretations of subcultural phenomena. It reveals how and why people use specific conceptual frames or methods and how those shape their interpretations of everyday realities. This is an unprecedented contribution to the field, explaining the interpretive processes through which people make sense of subcultural phenomena.

Revised and update completely to include new research and theories, this second edition of a hugely successful book brings together a range of articles, from big names in the field, classic texts and new thinking on subcultures and their definitions.

This book examines management and management-related activities as a feature of everyday life. Any person or group that attempts to influence or shape the behaviors or experiences of others may be understood as engaging in management activities. The study of management involves the study of achieving understanding, providing direction and coordinating activities with others across an endless array of humanly engaged terrains. Management Motifs provides a research agenda for an interactionist approach to the study of management activities. Moving well beyond more organizationally-based understandings of managers and management, it examines the pragmatic accomplishment of management activities and the generic social processes that accompany them. This work addresses diverse issues related to management such as: holding and doing office, pursuing cooperation, developing policy, envisioning and advocating for missions, establishing teams and generating team identities, sustaining team endeavors and managing self. By attending to management-related concerns as a generic feature of human group life, the authors develop and articulate a research framework for the study of managing and management.

This unique volume first considers the merits of qualitative research, profiles interviewing strategies and discusses the relationship to respondents and how to write about social life. The later portion of 'Doing Ethnography' contains three essential sections: constructing perspectives, constructing identities as well as doing and relating. Harrowing case studies and original research are featured throughout.

Contains five papers which examine the future of symbolic interaction. This work features additional essays that offer theoretical developments in the areas of social work, race, media, identity, and politics.

Adopting a symbolic interactionist perspective and building extensively on the ethnographic research tradition, this book analyzes the mystique that often accompanies deviance by examining deviance as an ongoing feature of community life. Because deviance is approached in nonprescriptive ways, as a product of community interchange, the emphasis here is on the ways in which deviance is defined, engaged, and regulated. It is examined as the product of human association, as something that is generated by people as they interact with one another, assume viewpoints and initiatives, and try to influence and resist one another within the context of community life. Prus and Grills do not attempt to address various deviant behaviors; instead, they provide readers with a glimpse into how deviance is formulated, practiced, viewed, and treated. Who defines deviance? Why? What are the effects of deviance on others? How do subcultures form? These and other questions are answered in this unique approach to the study of deviance. Providing a conceptually coherent framework for approaching the study of deviance as an ongoing feature of the human community, the authors pay special attention to the many theaters of operation in which people come together and engage one another with respect to morality and deviance. Recognizing that audience definitions of deviance are pivotal to community notions of reality and actual interaction, consideration is given to the interrelated processes of defining deviance, identifying deviants, regulating deviance informally and formally, and experiencing treatment and disinvolvement. This thoughtful consideration serves to shed new light on the mystique that has been created around ideas about deviance.

Introducing classical and contemporary theory alongside key empirical work, this book explores everyday life sociologies.