TY - JOUR
T1 - Mead's field theory and its implications for American minorities
AU - Wiley, Norbert
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - This chapter shows that Mead has a field theory and that the explanatory method of symbolic interaction is that of a field. A field, in this sense, is a systematic network of meanings. When someone or something enters that field such as a protest rally or a cocktail party they are given the meaning that is characteristic of the field. This explanation is not one of causation but one of context. I show that a major field theory of Mead's concerns the agent and how decisions or actions are made. He also has a developmental field theory based on the play-game-generalized other relation. With Mead's agency model I then show how it can be applied, in macro fashion, to the recent rise in American minorities, especially that of women, African Americans, and gays. This example shows the macro or social structural power of Mead's idea.
AB - This chapter shows that Mead has a field theory and that the explanatory method of symbolic interaction is that of a field. A field, in this sense, is a systematic network of meanings. When someone or something enters that field such as a protest rally or a cocktail party they are given the meaning that is characteristic of the field. This explanation is not one of causation but one of context. I show that a major field theory of Mead's concerns the agent and how decisions or actions are made. He also has a developmental field theory based on the play-game-generalized other relation. With Mead's agency model I then show how it can be applied, in macro fashion, to the recent rise in American minorities, especially that of women, African Americans, and gays. This example shows the macro or social structural power of Mead's idea.
KW - African Americans
KW - Feminism
KW - Gays
KW - Mead
KW - Meaning
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U2 - 10.1108/S0163-239620160000046025
DO - 10.1108/S0163-239620160000046025
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84982920486
SN - 0163-2396
VL - 46
SP - 77
EP - 93
JO - Studies in Symbolic Interaction
JF - Studies in Symbolic Interaction
ER -