Introduction: Instigators of Interactionism – A Short Introduction to Interactionism in Sociology; Michael Hviid Jacobsen.- Chapter 1: Georg Simmel – Interactionist Before Symbolic Interactionism?; Greg Smith.- Chapter 2: Robert E. Park – A Precursor to Interactionism; Suzie Guth.- Chapter 3: George Herbert Mead – The Evolution of Mind, Self and Society through Interaction; Antony J. Puddephatt.- Chapter 4: Everett C. Hughes – Human Ecology, Peripheries and the World of Work; Edward B. Davis.- Chapter 5: Herbert Blumer – From Critique to Perspective; Alex Dennis.- Chapter 6: Manford H. Kuhn – A Legacy in the Age of Inquiry; Michael A. Katovich.- Chapter 7: Erving Goffman – Exploring the Interaction Order through Everyday Observations and Imaginative Metaphors; Michael Hviid Jacobsen.- Chapter 8: Harold Garfinkel – Experimenting with Social Order; Dirk vom Lehn.- Chapter 9: Anselm L. Strauss – Action/Work as Process and Perspective; Jörg Strübing.- Chapter 10: Jack D. Douglas – The Existential Sociology Project; Andrey Melnikov & Joseph A. Kotarba.- Chapter 11: Howard S. Becker – Aspects of an Open Sociology; Marc Perrenoud.- Chapter 12: Stanford M. Lyman – A Sociology of the Absurd and Beyond; Cecil E. Greek & Michael Hviid Jacobsen.- Chapter 13: Arlie R. Hochschild – Interactions, Emotions and Commercialized Intimacy; Michael Hviid Jacobsen & Anders Petersen.- Chapter 14: Gary Alan Fine – From Small Groups to Peopled Ethnography; Chiara Bassetti & Roberta Sassatelli.- 

This book outlines the history and developments of interactionist social thought through a consideration of its key figures. Arranged chronologically, each chapter illustrates the impact that individual sociologists working within an interactionism framework have had on interactionism as perspective and on the discipline of sociology as such. It presents analyses of interactionist theorists from Georg Simmel through to Herbert Bulmer and Erving Goffman and onto the more recent contributions of Arlie R. Hochschild and Gary Alan Fine. Through an engagement with the latest scholarship this work shows that in a discipline often focused on macrosocial developments and large-scale structures, the interactionist perspective which privileges the study of human interaction has continued relevance. The broad scope of this book will make it an invaluable resource for scholars and students of sociology, social theory, cultural studies, media studies, social psychology, criminology and anthropology.

“A history of any important intellectual perspective inevitably involves linked biographies. In this powerful and well-considered volume, Michael Hviid Jacobsen and his collaborators describe some of the main contributors of the interactionist perspective, perhaps the most vibrant sociological tradition of the Twentieth Century, and reveal why this approach matters. This volume will persuade the reader of the value of interaction as crucial to understanding social order.” (Gary Alan Fine, Northwestern University, USA) “This is a sterling collection of essays that explicates the work of the founding framers, late twentieth-century paladins, and some of today’s luminaries in symbolic interactionism. The “interactionist imagination” is the best sociological imagination because it weaves together structure and agency in sociological explanation. Jacobsen’s project demonstrates that the interactionist imagination deserves center stage in the interpretation of human events.” (Gil Richard Musolf, Central Michigan University, USA, and editor of “Studies in Symbolic Interaction”)

"A history of any important intellectual perspective inevitably involves linked biographies. In this powerful and well-considered volume, Michael Hviid Jacobsen and his collaborators describe some of the main contributors of the interactionist perspective, perhaps the most vibrant sociological tradition of the Twentieth Century, and reveal why this approach matters. This volume will persuade the reader of the value of interaction as crucial to understanding social order." (Gary Alan Fine, Northwestern University, USA) "This is a sterling collection of essays that explicates the work of the founding framers, late twentieth-century paladins, and some of today's luminaries in symbolic interactionism. The "interactionist imagination" is the best sociological imagination because it weaves together structure and agency in sociological explanation. Jacobsen's project demonstrates that the interactionist imagination deserves center stage in the interpretation of human events." (Gil Richard Musolf, Central Michigan University, USA, and editor of "Studies in Symbolic Interaction")

Introduces readers to the key interactionist theorists in sociology during the 20th and 21st centuriesOutlines the history and development of interactionist social thoughtDemonstrates the continuing relevance interactionism which has been regarded as an alternative perspective within sociology