As of September 2019, this website will not be updated any longer. Please go to for the latest news and updates for SSSI. The Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction (SSSI) is an international professional organization of scholars interested in the study of a wide range of social issues with an emphasis on identity, everyday practice, and language. Symbolic interactionism, the society’s theoretical foundation, is derived from American pragmatism and particularly from the work of George Herbert Mead, who argued that people’s selves are social products, but that these selves are also purposive and creative. Herbert Blumer, a former student and interpreter of Mead, coined the term ‘symbolic interactionism’ and put forward an influential summary of the perspective stating that:
Many sub-disciplines within the social sciences have been influenced by symbolic interactionism, including the sociology of emotions, deviance/criminology, collective behavior/social movements, feminist studies, sociological versions of social psychology, communications theory, semiotics, education, nursing, mass media, organizations, and the study of social problems. Similarly, numerous interactionist concepts have gained widespread usage, including the definition of the situation, emotion work, identity work, impression management, looking glass self, and total institution. |
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Call for Nominations: President, Vice-President, Members of Publications Committee
Conferences & Events
EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MINUTES
Journal: Symbolic Interaction
Outgoing President's Report: 2016-17
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SSSI Notes - Latest Newsletter
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