Discuss the following basic premise that forms the basis for Blumer’s understanding of a symbolic interactionist approach to social life: Meaning is determined by the introduction of social structure. Using an example of a social structure, consider the meaning attributed to said structure and social significance. Consider education or the military or policing.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Blumer’s remarks reveal a clear picture of the problem of order. Social life is seen as a dynamic process in which actors, through interpreting the gestures of others as well as their own, are at every moment creating and re-creating the patterns of behavior that form the basis for the social order. However, when we turn to the problem of action and ask what motivates individuals or groups to act, the same explicitness is, unfortunately, not to be found. Like Mead, who was “only casually and tangentially interested in the self as a source of motivational energy, or as an object of affective attachment” (Wrong 1994:65), Blumer’s own “casual interest” on this issue leaves us with less to work with than we may like. Nevertheless, we can point out the general tendencies in Blumer’s symbolic interactionist perspective. Meaning is modified through an interpretation process.