Symbolic Interactionism and Microsociology

Theories centered on face-to-face interaction and how meaning is negotiated at the individual and small-group level, the tradition founded by George Herbert Mead and named by Herbert Blumer, including Erving Goffman dramaturgy, the analysis of social life as staged performance, Howard Becker-era labeling theory, the study of how a deviant label shapes identity, social exchange theory, which models interaction as a cost-benefit exchange, and Goffman's own concept of the total institution, a place where all aspects of life are conducted under one authority. Belongs here: a theory operating at the scale of face-to-face interaction. Does not belong here: a theory operating at the scale of whole social systems or structures, grouped under Structural-Functionalist Theory or Conflict and Critical Theory.