Interaction ritual : essays on face-to-face behavior
"Not then, men and their moments. Rather, moments and their men," writes [the author] in the introduction to his [book], a study of face-to-face interaction in natural settings, that class of events that occurs during co-presence and by virtue of co-presence. The ultimate behavioral materials are the glances, gestures, positioning, and verbal statements that people continuously feed into situations, whether intended or not. A sociology of occasions is here advocated. Social organizations is the central theme, but what is organized is the commingling of persons and the temporary interactional enterprises that can arise there from. A normatively stabilized structure is at issue, a "social gathering," but this is a shifting entity, necessarily evanescent, created by arrivals and killed by departures. The major section of the book is the essay "Where the Actions Is," drawing on [the author's] last major ethnographic project, his observation of Nevada casinos.-Back cover
Print Book, English, 1982
First Pantheon books edition View all formats and editions
Pantheon Books, New York, 1982