Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction Blog (original) (raw)

Upcoming 2026 SSSI Conferences

As announced at the 2025 SSSI Annual Meetings in Chicago, the 2026 SSSI Annual Meeting will be held in collaboration with the Canadian Qualitative Analysis Conference, June 10-12, 2026 in Niagara Falls, Ontario (Canada).

The European SSSI Meeting 2026 will be held in Oslo, Norway, June 17-19, 2026. Please mark these dates on your calendar and plan to attend, as you are able!

SSSI Annual Meetings 2025 (Chicago) Award Winners

At the 2025 SSSI Annual Meetings in Chicago the Society presented its awards.

George Herbert Mead Award (Lifetime Achievement) – Simon Gottschalk (University of Nevada, Las Vegas)

Charles Horton Cooley Book Award – Asia Friedman‘s (University of Delaware) Mammography Wars: Analyzing Attention in Cultural and Medical Disputes

Herbert Blumer Award for Best Graduate Student Paper – Yuchen Yang’s (University of Birmingham) “Gender Uptake: Theorizing the Semiotics of (Un)Doing Gender”

Jiwon Yun, PhD Candidate, Yale University for “Multiple Staging for Multiple Audiences: Working Around the Donor-Beneficiary Dynamic in the Nonprofit Sector.”

The Kathy Charmaz Early-In-Career Award – Martin Harbusch (University of Siegen/Germany)

Helena Lopata Mentor Excellence Award – Ross Haenfler (Grinnell College)

Distinguished Lecture – David Altheide

European Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction Annual Conference (14 – 16 July, 2025)

“Symbolic Interactionism and Creative

Processes in Turbulent Times”

Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in

Warsaw Institute of Sociology

14-16 July 2025

The purpose of the conference is to offer an international and interdisciplinary platform for scholars of symbolic interactionist theory and methods to expand their research, while reinforcing its foundation across various fields, including sociology, anthropology, social psychology, and ethnography.

Symbolic intcractionism is integrally linked to the concept of creativity which is evident especially in blumerian variant of the theory. Blumer emphasizes the inherently creative process of interpretation, writing: “Interpretation is a fonnative or creative process in its own right. It constructs meanings which, as I have said, are not predetermined or determined by the independent variable”. Using Mead’s concept of the “I” – the spontaneous and creative aspect of the self – Blumer also highlights a dynamic perspective on human agency within social contexts and norms. He emphasizes individuals’ capacity to navigate, challenge, and even overturn the social structures and rules that influence their surroundings. Referring to the works of Florian Znaniecki (who also laid the foundations for symbolic interactionismand wrote about creativity), Blumer conducted a methodological reflection on human documents and the nature of interpretation.

Creative processes appear in the classical work of interactionists in various contexts. Everett C. Hughes refers to a creative person as an autonomous individual who is able to skillfully and selectively respond to expectations of the insiders of his group and ‘others’ (“Sociological eye”). Anselm Strauss distinguished ‘routine’, ‘innovative’ and ‘creative’ actions, defining creative act as innovation at its greatest, resulting invery major changes in collective perception, values, and action (“Continual permutation of action”). In methodological context, together with

Barney Glaser they called category building and theory generating a creative endeavour. Krzysztof Konecki stated that originality is not a sufficient component of creative work; usefulness, adequacy, and the value assigned by a specific audience are alsonecessary. Goffman writes a lot about well designed (though conscious or unconscious) impression creation. Howard Becker in ‘Art Worlds’ views creativity more narrowly, as a feature of artists, in contrast to distributors and managers involved in the activities within the art field. Among contemporary sociologists drawing inspiration from the ideas of Mead, Hans Joas developed the theory of creativity of action. These are just some of the many threads related to creativity in symbolic interactionism.

The dilemma of whether creativity is a trait specifically human, has been revived with the widespread availability of artificial intelligence tools, which is also reflected in the writings of interactionists. A related dilemma concerns the extent to which creativity is a trait developed over time through interaction, versus an innate quality inherent to a person.

We hope that the multifaceted nature of creative processes will also be reflected m the conference presentations, such as the ones listed below, though this is not an exhaustive list:

• Processual aspects of identity
• Cultural integration and disintegration
• Intercultural communication
• Social worlds and boundary objects
• Art worlds
• Creativity in artistic work
• Creation and co-experiencing of popular music
• Ethnic food cultures and their meanings
• Reflexivity in the context of history and heritage
• Symbolic construction of communities
• Creativity in discovery and construction of a theory
• Creative writing
• Creativity in research process
• Performative actions
• Redefining key categories in the face of ecological threats
• Dark side of creativity; effects of unrestrained creativity
• Creativity and AI

The conference will concern also other aspects of symbolic interactionist theory and organisers encourage other sessions related to symbolic interactionism, grounded theory (and other methods), sessions which may not fit directly into the conference theme but stimulate open discussion. We accept both theoretical, methodological and empirical proposals.

Institute of Sociology (Sociology of Culture Department) at the Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw, will host the conference. The event is co-organized by the Section of Qualitative Sociology and Symbolic Interactionism of the Polish Sociological Association. The Polish Sociological Association, which brings together and represents the Polish sociology community, is providing patronage for the event.

Organization Committee:

Rafal Wisniewski

Izabela Bukalska (Conference Secretary) Katarzyna Kalinowska

Magdalena Markocka Katarzyna Drzewek Agnieszka Wolk Grazyna Pol

Michal Rydzewski Michal Dziobkowski

Important dates:

Call for papers:

• January 27th, 2025: call for papers opening
• March 26th, 2025: call for papers deadline
• March 31th, 2025: papers acceptance Program and Registration:
• April 14th, 2025: draft program releasing
• April 22th, 2025: registration opening
• May 7th, 2025: end of ,,early bird” registration
• May 30th, 2025: end of regular registration
• June 2nd, 2025: final program releasing
• July 14th- 16th: Conference!

For more detailed information and to stay up to date with the latest content, please visit the conference website:

https://eusssi2025.uksw.edu.pl/pl/

To contact the organizing team, please use the email address below: eusssi2025warsaw@gmail.com

or conference Secretary, Izabela Bukalska: i.bukalska@uksw.edu.pl

SSSI Notes Vol.55 No.1 #sssi #sociology #interactionism #newsletter #SocietyfortheStudyofSymbolicInteraction

The latest issue of the newsletter of the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction (Vol.55 No.1) has just been published. Click HERE or on the image to download it.

Update: 2024 SSSI Annual Meetings (Pisa), Registration and Draft Program #sssi #sociology #conference

Dear Colleague,

We are pleased to inform you that the first draft of the 2024 SSSI Conference Program is now available.

Please note that there may be some minor changes in the coming weeks, so we encourage you to check the website periodically.

Registration for the conference is now open. Please visit and follow the instructions to register.

We are thrilled to be hosting this fantastic conference at our university and can’t wait to meet you in Pisa!

Best regards,

Irene and Andrea

SSSI 2024 Awards (upcoming deadlines) #sssi #sociology #awards

While the deadline for the SSSI Blumer Award now has passed the calls for submission for other awards are still open.

Kathy Charmaz Early-in-Career Award

Nomination deadline: April 15, 2024. Nominations should be submitted electronically to the chair of the committee. All nominations should include (a) a letter of nomination detailing the candidate’s contributions to symbolic interaction and most noteworthy research and publications thus far, (b) letters of support that address the award criteria, and (c) the candidate’s CV.

Chair: Christopher Conner – ctckdg@missouri.edu

Committee: Gary Alan Fine & Staci Newmahr

Helena Lopata Award for Excellence in Mentorship

Nomination deadline: April 15, 2024. Nominations should be submitted electronically to the chair of the committee. All nominations should include (a) a letter of nomination and, (b) multiple letters of support, ideally from people with different mentoring relations with the candidate, that testify to a sustained career of outstanding mentorship.

Chair: Doug Schrock dschrock@fsu.edu

Committee: Stacey Hannem & Michael O. Johnston

Charles Horton Cooley Award for Best Recent Book in Symbolic Interaction

Nomination deadline: April 1, 2024. Please contact the chair of the committee with your nomination and to arrange for copies of the book to be sent to the committee. Copies of the books must be received by the committee by the deadline. If you are submitting a nomination for the Cooley Award, please ensure that you contact the publisher as soon as possible to allow sufficient time for copies of the books reach the committee. Electronic copies are permitted and are preferable where shipping will cause delays. Nominated books must have been published within the three preceding years of the award (i.e. between March 2021 and March 2024).

Chair: Ugo Corte – ugo.corte@gmail.com
Committee: Scott Harris & Heather Shay

George Herbert Mead Award for Lifetime Achievement in Symbolic Interaction

Nomination deadline: April 15, 2024. Nominations should be submitted electronically to the chair of the committee. Mead award nominations should include (a) a letter of nomination from a current member of SSSI, (b) at least two letters of support, and (c) a current CV.

Chair: Michael Flaherty – flahermg@eckerd.edu

Committee: Lisa-Jo van den Scott & John Johnson

SSSI Conference 2024 – Pisa (June 3rd to 7th) – Extension of Deadline to 29 March – #sssi #sociology #interactionism

IDENTITIES, BOUNDARIES AND SOCIAL DIVISIONS. RECONCILING COMPETING FRAMES

Link to Conference Website

June 3rd-7th, 2024 – University of Pisa, Italy

The Center for Advanced Studies in Symbolic Interactionism and Grounded Theory – Department of Political Science, University of Pisa, will host the 2024 SSSI-EUSSSI Annual Meeting.

This event, fourteen years after the first EUSSSI Conference, which took place exactly at the University of Pisa, should not be considered as a mere celebration, but as a fundamental opportunity to meet up with the most well-known scholars of Symbolic Interaction and Grounded Theory coming from Europe, America, and all around the world.

The deadline for submission of abstracts has been extended to March 29th. You can find the Call for Papoers HERE.

TOPICS

The theme “Identities, Boundaries and Social Divisions. Reconciling Competing Frames” reflects contemporary questions about identity, closure, separation, differences, and the developing needs of society.

The demand for recognition and integration of individual and collective identities carrying different features from established social and cultural models is generating reactions characterized by closure and conflict. Consequences are the increasing of new borders (social barriers and boundaries), and the resurgence of stigmatization, segregation, and segmentation processes, based on cultural divisions. Terrible wars devastate the lives of many peoples, primarily those directly involved, but they also have significant effects on the daily lives of citizens of all states around the world. Nevertheless, at the same time, there is a need to generate new forms of dialogue and openness, to reconcile cultural visions and social positions that are diverse and competing. Internationally, we are witnessing the spread of social and political movements from below that promote peace, styles of participation, and social integration based on meeting and enhancing diversity, evoking the need for innovative forms of coexistence, based on recognition of social and civil rights, on the realization of ever higher levels of social justice, on the enhancement of common goods and local welfare and community.

It is in this framework that the theoretical and methodological tenets of Symbolic Interactionism can be helpful to analyze these processes, to interpret their scope and effects in people’s lives, and to understand their relevance.

In this sense, the 2024 Pisa Conference is an invitation to dialogue, to affirm the importance of reconciliation between different points of view and between different cultural frames, aspects that are very much needed both in Europe and in the United States, as well as in all other parts of the world.

For more information, go HERE.

SSSI Notes Vol.53 No.1 was published in October 2023

I think I may have forgotten to publish the Autumn 2023 newsletter of the Society. Please access SSSI Notes vol.53(1) HERE.

In Memoriam Peter Conrad #sociology #sssi

In Memoriam Peter Conrad

April 12, 1945- March 3, 2024

Peter Conrad passed away on March 3, 2024 at his home in Lincoln, MA. He has been my dear friend and close colleague since we met in 1979. I had just finished my dissertation and Peter had started teaching at Brandeis, where he spent his whole career. Peter has long been one of the leading medical sociologists here and abroad, and his impressive scholarship was matched by his unparalleled support for colleagues and students at all levels of sociology. For decades we shared a room at the American Sociological Association annual meetings, staying up late at night sharing thoughts of the day’s meetings, hall conversations, job market possibilities for our students, stories of the friends we’d chatted with that day, and book ads and brochures we came across for future teaching and research use. Peter made sure to connect his students with faculty members who could help them think over a course paper or dissertation topic. I’ve had several occasions where I introduced my students to Peter and he developed collegial interactions with them and always asked me how they’re doing. I never failed to be amazed at how many people Peter knew as we traversed the conference hotels. During the days we’d make sure to take time to walk around the conference city, taking in the architecture, food, scenery, and people.

Peter did groundbreaking work in elaborating the concept of the medicalization of social problems. Though he wasn’t the first to coin the term, that core concept in medical sociology today is a hallmark of Peter’s creativity as he extended it to ever more theoretical and analytical pathways. He integrated disparate notions from a variety of theoreticians and linked the concept to the phenomena of social control and power. He grounded medicalization in extensive research in interesting substantive areas, and he developed conceptual gradients and dimensions of the process of medicalization and demedicalization. In his later years, he greatly updated medicalization in the “The Shifting Engines of Medicalization,” his 2004 Leo G. Reeder Award lecture that was then published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior. He followed that with The Medicalization of Society: On the Transformation of Human Conditions into Treatable Disorders which synthesized medicalization research that Peter had worked on for three decades by then_._

Peter was a leading scholar in the experience of illness. His work on hyperkinesis and epilepsy are widely cited as core articles in that field. Peter’s dissertation became his first book in 1976, Identifying Hyperactive Children: The Medicalization of Deviant Behavior, setting his career off to a quick uphill start.

Peter’s books with Joseph Schneider, Having Epilepsy: The Experience and Control of illness and Deviance and Medicalization, are widely read, and his reader, Sociology of Health and Illness is a standard text, now in its tenth edition. Peter’s co-editorship of the Handbook of Medical Sociology transformed it into a very up-to-date, creative intellectual contribution. Peter wrote or edited 16 books and monographs. His approximately 120articles appeared in the best journals in medical sociology and related fields: Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Social Science and Medicine, Social Problems, Hastings Center Report, Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry and _American Journal of Sociology._Many are very widely read, cited, and reprinted. I have had the pleasure of co-authoring two pieces with him, one on rationing medical care and another on the relationship between states’ safety laws and injuries, and it was gave me further evidence of his thoughtful conceptualization and analytical sharpness.

Peter’s intellectual curiosity hs led him to many topics. Often they stemmed from his long-term commitment to the study of medicalization and illness experience, where he has been one of the discipline’s fundamental theorists and researchers. He spent several years studying corporate health promotion as an extension of medicalization. Peter also took up the issue of increased prescribing of psychotropic drugs to children. His work on enhancement examined the legal, moral, ethical, and medical aspects of personal enhancements such as athlete’s use of steroids, parents’ use of growth hormones for their children, and cosmetic surgery such as breast augmentation. Peter’s study of media presentation of genetics, funded by NIH’s Human Genome Project, provided excellent work on the social construction of genetics. Peter examined the implications of genetic determinism, such as attempts to “discover” genes for alcoholism and homosexuality. He co-edited Sociological Perspectives on the New Genetics as a monograph issue of Sociology of Health and Illness and co-edited The Double-Edged Sword: Social Dimensions of Genetics in a Diverse Society. Peter was one of the pioneers in sociological analysis of genetic issues, creating a body of work that spurred medical sociologists to take up varied research on genetics.

Peter often revisited earlier work, such as an article on ADHD in adults that extended his major scholarship on hyperactivity in children and his late-career work on the globalization of ADHD. He has continually returned to the theoretical development of medicalization, writing review pieces to update and revise that central framework. Peter also had a long-term interest in international health. He carved out wonderful sabbaticals abroad, such as one in Indonesia where he studied epilepsy, motorcycle helmet use, and emergency medicine. From all his trips abroad he put together a great co-edited volume Health and Health Care in Developing Countries.

In other work, Peter examined health care institutions and professions, including research on premedical and medical education, the culture of academic medicine, barriers to women’s advancement in academic medicine, and bioethics. More recently, Peter started a project on the experience and management of Parkinson’s Disease, with a focus on exercise, one of the most important modes of managing Parkinson’s. The interest came from Peter’s own diagnosis in 2014.

Peter’s remarkable body of work was always carefully thought-out and well-written. Peter thought conceptually, finding the broader meaning in some of the most routine elements of social life. He was always theoretical, but in a manner that made his theoreticalcontributions eminently readable. Taken together, Peter’s published research demonstrates the accomplishments of a brilliant career of medical sociology. When Peter retired in 2017 it was the occasion to hold a grand two-conference on medical sociology at Brandeis, and I was honored to chair it. Peter made sure that the top elder scholars were joined by the youngest graduate students and junior faculty in a series of sessions on the key areas of medical sociology.

Peter was a devoted teacher who always spent enormous time designing new and creative courses, and reading extensively to find the best readings for his courses and for the next editions of his text reader and handbook. When Peter talked about his work, the teaching part always shone through, and he was deeply appreciated by his students. He nourisheedjoint research, publishing journal articles with undergraduates as well as graduates. Peter was a great mentor to his students and to many faculty members, and he gave careful, insightful reading of manuscripts. Peter built an interdisciplinary program, Health: Science, Society and Policy and was always so satisfied as he led it to become the largest major at Brandeis University.

In service to the profession, Peter excelled. He served as Chair of the Medical Sociology Section (1989-1990), and one of his proudest accomplishments was to connect medical sociologists with health scholars in other fields, most notably in a panel during his Chair’s term on “Crossing the Borders.” He also held various offices in the Society for the Study of Social Problems, including President (1995-1996). In the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction, he held offices including Vice President. He was instrumental in founding Boston Area Medical Sociologists, a local/regional monthly study group that created a fertile climate for a number of years. He was widely sought after for lectures and visiting professorships here and abroad. Following a 1997 Fulbright position at Queens University in Belfast, colleagues there created an opportunity for him to return yearly to mentor students and faculty on research design. He delighted in that trip and often spoke of the many connections he kept over the years.

Working with his British colleague Michael Bury, Peter organized an amazing working conference in 1999, “Medical Sociology Toward the Millenium: Continuity and Change in Health and Medicine.” Held at the Royal Holloway, University of London, this conference brought together approximately 150 sociologists, primarily from the US and UK, but also from other countries. It was exceptional in its ability to link these two main groups of medical sociologists and allow them to interact, and led to four more international gatherings in the UK, US, Ireland, and Iceland. Many sociologists have spoken fondly of the conferences as key professional and intellectual experiences.

As one more sign of his professional service, Peter served as co-editor of Qualitative Sociology, and has sat on editorial boards of an enormous range of journals: Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, Sociological Quarterly, Sociology of Health and Illness, The American Sociologist and Health.

In all these areas, Peter conducted himself with deep attention, a friendly smile, warm encouragement, and both intellectual and personal respect for others. He was the all-around colleague that makes it a pleasure to be an academic.

Peter provided a major impetus to my “secondary” scholarship in studying the Jewish experience in the Catskill Mountains. At the 1991 ASA meeting in Cincinatti, we shared stories of summer adventures and when he heard my tales of working in the Catskills he said there was a book there. I knw Peter had a great eye for uncovering new research topics, so I took him seriously and discussed this with him a lot, leading me to embark on the book and much more. Ever since he was always interested in the latest happenings in that adventure. That was part of Peter’s own passion for discovering ethnic and religious roots, which he did in exploring the genealogy of this family’s German Jewish heritage which he published in a limited private edition booklet. He loved sharing the stories of his trip there and his location of relatives.

That was only one of the many personal connections we had. Peter and I shared cross-country skiing and bike riding out the door of his beautiful rural home. We shared dinners and coffees all through the year. Peter was always the sympathetic ear for any personal troubles, the joyful listener about the lives of my children and later my grandchildren, and the proud raconteur of his life as a parent and grandparent. I will miss him so much. Peter leaves behind his wife Ylisabyth Bradshaw, daughter Rya Conrad-Bradshaw, son Jared Conrad-Bradshaw, and grandchildren Rafi, Sela, and Avi. And he leaves behind a lot of love for all those who knew him.

Peter’s family writes:

The burial will be tomorrow, Tuesday, March 5 at 11 AM at the Lincoln Cemetery on Lexington Road, Lincoln, MA.

Lunch will follow at the house, 20 Old Sudbury Rd, Lincoln (drop offs preferred and park on Boyce Farm Rd, which is opposite our long driveway – wear comfortable shoes and bring an umbrella).

We are happy to receive people on Tuesday, March 5th from 12– 3 PM and again 5 – 8 PM. We will also receive people Tuesday, March 12th and Thursday, March 14th and Friday, March 15th from 4-7 PM.

There will be a Celebration of Life at Brandeis in June, date to be determined.

Call for SSSI Award Nominations!

Herbert Blumer Award for Best Graduate Student Paper in Symbolic Interaction

Nomination deadline: April 1, 2024. Awarded to a graduate student paper; the paper may be published or unpublished. Papers should be submitted electronically to the chair of the committee. Self-nominations are accepted.

Chair: Dirk vom Lehn – dirk.vom_lehn@kcl.ac.uk

Committee: Douglas Clayton Smith & Yuchen Yang

Kathy Charmaz Early-in-Career Award

Nomination deadline: April 15, 2024. Nominations should be submitted electronically to the chair of the committee. All nominations should include (a) a letter of nomination detailing the candidate’s contributions to symbolic interaction and most noteworthy research and publications thus far, (b) letters of support that address the award criteria, and (c) the candidate’s CV.

Chair: Christopher Conner – ctckdg@missouri.edu

Committee: Gary Alan Fine & Staci Newmahr

Helena Lopata Award for Excellence in Mentorship

Nomination deadline: April 15, 2024. Nominations should be submitted electronically to the chair of the committee. All nominations should include (a) a letter of nomination and, (b) multiple letters of support, ideally from people with different mentoring relations with the candidate, that testify to a sustained career of outstanding mentorship.

Chair: Doug Schrock dschrock@fsu.edu

Committee: Stacey Hannem & Michael O. Johnston

Charles Horton Cooley Award for Best Recent Book in Symbolic Interaction

Nomination deadline: April 1, 2024. Please contact the chair of the committee with your nomination and to arrange for copies of the book to be sent to the committee. Copies of the books must be received by the committee by the deadline. If you are submitting a nomination for the Cooley Award, please ensure that you contact the publisher as soon as possible to allow sufficient time for copies of the books reach the committee. Electronic copies are permitted and are preferable where shipping will cause delays. Nominated books must have been published within the three preceding years of the award (i.e. between March 2021 and March 2024).

Chair: Ugo Corte – ugo.corte@gmail.com
Committee: Scott Harris and Heather Shay

George Herbert Mead Award for Lifetime Achievement in Symbolic Interaction

Nomination deadline: April 15, 2024. Nominations should be submitted electronically to the chair of the committee. Mead award nominations should include (a) a letter of nomination from a current member of SSSI, (b) at least two letters of support, and (c) a current CV.

Chair: Michael Flaherty – flahermg@eckerd.edu

Committee: Lisa-Jo van den Scott & John Johnson

Obituary: “Adele E. Clarke Dies at 78; Leader in Sociology and Women’s Health” by Monica J. Casper #sociology #sssi

Dr. Adele E. Clarke, an internationally known sociologist and women’s health scholar, died on January 19, 2024 in San Francisco. She was 78.

Throughout her long, refreshingly nonlinear career, Clarke made substantial contributions to sociology, the history of medicine, qualitative methodologies, science and technology studies (STS), women’s health, and reproductive studies. She had a significant impact on, and built bridges connecting, all of these areas and was recognized for her creative interdisciplinarity.

With colleagues at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), where she was a faculty member for nearly four decades, Clarke innovated the sociology of women’s health, offering the first curriculum in the United States focused on social, cultural, and historical dimensions of women’s health. The Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, where she received her Ph.D. in 1985, is housed in UCSF’s School of Nursing, offering especially rich collaborations in and across women’s health research. Clarke trained numerous graduate students in sociology, nursing, and other fields who continue to research women’s health. She published many important works in this area, including Women’s Health: Differences and Complexities (with Sheryl Ruzek and Virginia Olesen) and Revisioning Women, Health, and Healing: Feminist, Cultural, and Technoscience Perspectives (with Virginia Olesen).

Amy Agigian, Executive Director of Our Bodies Ourselves Today and associate professor of sociology at Suffolk University, remarked, “Adele Clarke was a tremendous figure in the field of women’s health. She was a brilliant, truly original scholar as well as an unwavering activist for the cause. In a relationship that spanned decades, Adele contributed to many editions of Our Bodies, Ourselves. Her immense intellectual rigor, creativity, and generosity were legendary. She will be greatly missed.” And Judy Norsigian, a co-founder of Our Bodies Ourselves, described her as “a scholar activist in the best sense and a wonderful colleague. She was adept at amplifying women’s health concerns both in and out of the academy. Her legacy will be felt for many years to come.” A fund in Clarke’s name has been established at Our Bodies Ourselves Today in recognition of her support for and contributions to the organization.

Yet Adele Clarke was first and foremost a sociologist. Steven Epstein, John C. Shaffer Professor in the Humanities and chair of sociology at Northwestern University, said, “If biomedicine—a consistent object of her expansive attention—has been reshaped ‘from the inside out,’ then we might say her own work transformed sociology from the inside out. It was precisely Clarke’s rock-solid grounding in interactionist sociology—combined with her capacious interest in other perspectives, her commitment to conceptual development, and her willingness to take intellectual risks—that allowed her to explode and reimagine traditional sociological approaches, both theoretical and methodological. By this path she has left us multiple important bodies of scholarship—on the reproductive sciences; on the changing character and aspirations of modern medicine—and, more broadly, an invigorated sociological framework for studying social, organizational, and political change.”

Clarke’s 1985 doctoral thesis on controversy and the reproductive sciences won the Roberta G. Simmons Outstanding Dissertation Award from the Medical Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association and launched a productive scholarly focus on reproduction and reproductive politics. Her 1998 book, Disciplining Reproduction: Modernity, American Life Sciences, and the ‘Problem of Sex’, won the Eileen Basker Distinguished Book Award from the Society for Medical Anthropology and the Ludwik Fleck Distinguished Book Award from the Society for Social Studies of Science. Clarke also wrote about sterilization abuse, abortion, cervical cancer, reproductive technologies, kinship, and more. M. Murphy, professor of history at the University of Toronto, hails Clarke’s work as “foundational to the creation of feminist reproductive studies as a field. Her brilliant fierce scholarship had deep activist commitments: in her opus Disciplining Reproduction to her work on pap smears, RU486, clitoral anatomy, and contributions to Our Bodies, Ourselves, she modeled how to do rigorous, innovative, political scholarship. Her imprint as a thinker and mentor runs throughout the field, and I feel such profound gratitude for what she gave us.”

Clarke was also a brilliant qualitative methodologist. Trained in Chicago School sociology, grounded theory, and social worlds/arenas analysis, she developed the method of situational analysis. Using maps to connect discourse and agency, action and structure, images and texts, histories and the present, this approach fosters understanding of the situation in its constituent elements as the unit of analysis. Her 2005 book, Situational Analysis: Grounded Theory after the Postmodern Turn, was awarded the Charles Horton Cooley Distinguished Book Award from the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction. Additional works on situational analysis included collaborations with former students and foreign translations. Reiner Keller, chair of sociology at the University of Augsburg, said, “Clarke’s Situational Analysis was pathbreaking in its opening up of classical grounded theory and its integration with discourse studies, STS, and poststructuralist epistemologies. It strongly addresses the complexities and challenges of today’s multi-layered reality and encourages researchers’ curiosity and reflexivity in the process of doing interpretive research. It has successfully traveled beyond the US, inspiring sound research and scholarship all over the globe. Adele’s impact will be felt for many years to come.”

Clarke was a key figure in science and technology studies, an interdisciplinary field investigating social, cultural, and historical dimensions of scientific and biomedical knowledge and practice. She co-edited The Right Tools for the Job: At Work in Twentieth Century Life Sciences with Joan Fujumira and Biomedicalization: Technoscience and Transformations of Health and Illness in the U.S. with UCSF alumni Laura Mamo, Jennifer Fosket, Jennifer Fishman, and Janet Shim. She brought science and technology studies into the doctoral sociology curriculum at UCSF, attracting students to the department, and also engaged in significant field-building work through conferences, journals, workshops, special issues, and more, including international collaborations. Chia-Ling Wu, professor of sociology at National Taiwan University, credits Clarke for her “unwavering support for the East Asian STS and feminist community,” especially noting her editorial involvement in the East Asian Science, Technology and Society journal.

In 2012, Clarke received the distinguished J.D. Bernal Prize for Outstanding Contributions from the Society for Social Studies of Science. Of her abundant contributions to STS, biology and science studies scholar Donna Haraway commented, “Adele’s work in STS was extraordinary. From her study of non-human primate models in early to mid twentieth-century reproductive sciences to her collaboration to reopen feminist questions about reproductive freedom and justice in relation to human numbers and population, she modeled inquiry that matters to lives. I drew on her publications in my own work, taught her methodological approaches in Situational Analysis, and we co-mentored each other’s graduate students. She made us all better; she knew how to make kin. Her sense of humor, wide-ranging research and publishing, and extraordinary ability to nurture diverse communities shaped science studies for generations to come.”

Adele Clarke was a beloved and generous mentor to generations of sociologists, nurses, and others, many of whom went on to distinguished academic careers of their own. She was recognized as an especially savvy networker who ensured that her students were connected to other scholars and opportunities. She was tough and kind in equal measure, consistently encouraging both excellent scholarship and a healthy work-life balance, one replete with the arts, conversation, champagne, and delicious food. (In the wake of her death, some former students have been sharing her favorite recipes.) In 2002, she was honored by the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction with the Feminist Mentor Award and was recognized as Faculty Mentor of the Year at UCSF. In 2015, the Medical Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association presented her with the Leo G. Reeder Award for distinguished service to the field. Additional honors included a Woman of Distinction award from the UCSF Center for Gender Equality, the Helen Nahm Career of Excellence Award from the UCSF School of Nursing, and the UCSF 150th Anniversary Alumni Excellence Award.

Alondra Nelson, the Harold F. Linder Professor of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study, remembers Clarke as “an exceptional researcher and incomparable mentor. To be enlightened by Adele was to be grounded in the wisdom of ‘situational analysis’—her crucial intellectual contribution—and to be reminded that scholarly depth and rigor didn’t require sacrificing attention to contingency, complexity, and multiplicity, but rather confronting them. To be mentored by Adele was to enter a universe of nonjudgmental support, intellectual generosity, and infectious laughter. It was to be on the receiving end of Adele’s ‘care packages’: news clips, articles, and essays intended to stoke the flame of *your* intellectual passions, while letting you know that you were never far from her thoughts. It was to have your ideas and scholarly curiosity taken seriously and treated tenderly. It was to be enthusiastically invited into a diverse, supportive group of peers and collaborators. Adele was an intellectual powerhouse who built intellectual community. Her presence will be deeply missed, but her legacy goes on and on.”

Adele Elizabeth Clarke was born on April 1, 1945, in Brooklyn New York, to Agatha Adele Howry and Norman Clarke. She received a bachelor’s degree from Barnard College in 1966 and a master’s degree from NYU in 1970, both in sociology. A lifelong lover of dance, she studied with Deborah Hay and danced in some of Yvonne Rainer’s performances. Clarke moved to California in 1970, teaching at College of the Redwoods and Sonoma State University, where she coordinated the women’s studies program. She earned her doctorate in sociology in 1985 from the University of California, San Francisco. From 1987 to 1989, she held a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University. She was a faculty member in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences in the School of Nursing at UCSF from 1985 until her retirement in 2013, holding a variety of roles including director of the doctoral program and department chair. Until very recently—and despite retirement—she was quite active in publishing, mentoring students and colleagues, and giving workshops on situational analysis.

Clarke is survived by her husband, Allan Regenstreif, a psychoanalyst. Adele and Allan, who married in 1978, lived together as partners for 53 years.They met soon after each of them left New York separately for rural Northern California as, in Allan’s words, “hippie dropouts.” Between their first and second dates, Adele joined a women’s group and gender/feminism began to play a major role in their communication. Allan wanted to join the group, as he had participated in group therapy in New York. Adele instead encouraged Allan to start a men’s group, which he did, along with a feminist men’s journal and Men Overcoming Violence. Clarke and Regenstreif supported each other in returning to school for graduate degrees and professional licenses, through international job searches, and through the deaths of their parents. They often argued and had a rule to apologize and make up while preserving their differences, using disagreements as a way to move their positions and fall more deeply in love.

An automobile accident in 1995 caused Adele to have serious injuries and back pain, and later she became disabled. In the last year of her life, she was in severe pain. In her final moments, Adele and Allan were together, holding hands and talking until Adele fell asleep. She died an hour later.

Clarke is survived also by her cousins Linn Jeffries Howry (Somerville, MA), Jeffrey Clarke Howry (Lexington, MA), Alexander Habib Howry (Pinkerton, Ohio), and Cynthia Dean Howry Bruce (Norfolk, VA), and by the many students who adored her and who carry forward her legacy.

—
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Monica J. Casper, Ph.D.
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Special Assistant to the President on Gender-Based Violence
Chair, Blue Ribbon Task Force on Gender-Based Violence
Professor of Sociology
College of Arts and Letters
mjcasper@sdsu.edu<mailto:mjcasper@sdsu.edu>
O: 619-594-5201
LinkedIn<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Fmonicajcasper%2F&data=05%7C02%7Cdirk.vom_lehn%40kcl.ac.uk%7C5dc79ee7d73a4f9c940808dc21ad2e2d%7C8370cf1416f34c16b83c724071654356%7C0%7C0%7C638422274887119019%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=1ZW95qVGIkWGAIo4IsBnoVc7GeqJfGIcIciW3yzuah8%3D&reserved=0>
San Diego State University
Indigenous Residence: Kumeyaay
Indigenous Upbringing: Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi
A Proud Hispanic-Serving Institution
A Proud federally-designated AANAPISI

SSSI Conference 2024 – Pisa – PISA! yay!!! June 3rd to 7th #sssi #sociology #interactionism

IDENTITIES, BOUNDARIES AND SOCIAL DIVISIONS. RECONCILING COMPETING FRAMES

Link to Conference Website

June 3rd-7th, 2024 – University of Pisa, Italy

The Center for Advanced Studies in Symbolic Interactionism and Grounded Theory – Department of Political Science, University of Pisa, will host the 2024 SSSI-EUSSSI Annual Meeting.

This event, fourteen years after the first EUSSSI Conference, which took place exactly at the University of Pisa, should not be considered as a mere celebration, but as a fundamental opportunity to meet up with the most well-known scholars of Symbolic Interaction and Grounded Theory coming from Europe, America, and all around the world.

TOPICS

The theme “Identities, Boundaries and Social Divisions. Reconciling Competing Frames” reflects contemporary questions about identity, closure, separation, differences, and the developing needs of society.

The demand for recognition and integration of individual and collective identities carrying different features from established social and cultural models is generating reactions characterized by closure and conflict. Consequences are the increasing of new borders (social barriers and boundaries), and the resurgence of stigmatization, segregation, and segmentation processes, based on cultural divisions. Terrible wars devastate the lives of many peoples, primarily those directly involved, but they also have significant effects on the daily lives of citizens of all states around the world. Nevertheless, at the same time, there is a need to generate new forms of dialogue and openness, to reconcile cultural visions and social positions that are diverse and competing. Internationally, we are witnessing the spread of social and political movements from below that promote peace, styles of participation, and social integration based on meeting and enhancing diversity, evoking the need for innovative forms of coexistence, based on recognition of social and civil rights, on the realization of ever higher levels of social justice, on the enhancement of common goods and local welfare and community.

It is in this framework that the theoretical and methodological tenets of Symbolic Interactionism can be helpful to analyze these processes, to interpret their scope and effects in people’s lives, and to understand their relevance.

In this sense, the 2024 Pisa Conference is an invitation to dialogue, to affirm the importance of reconciliation between different points of view and between different cultural frames, aspects that are very much needed both in Europe and in the United States, as well as in all other parts of the world.

For more information, go HERE.

Call for papers for an edited volume credited by Deana Simonetto and Tony Puddephatt ~ Practicing Ethics in Qualitative Research #sssi #sociology #qualitative #ethics

CALL FOR PAPERS:
Practicing Ethics in Qualitative Research: Transcending the Biomedical Model

Editors:
Deana Simonetto, University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus Antony Puddephatt, Lakehead University

Qualitative researchers often encounter the dilemma of how to fit the processual, collective, and emergent nature of qualitative research projects into the strictures required by a biomedical model of ethics. The applications demanded by research ethics boards (REBs) have a historical root in medically based research, and often follows an assumed logic of deductive designs and fixed research instruments, while treating humans as individual research “subjects.”1 Will van den Hoonaard (2002, 2011, 2023) has led the way in criticizing the “audit culture” of ethical review processes, where social researchers must seek prior approval for their research by centering their attention on such critical ethical pillars as anonymity, confidentiality, informed consent, vulnerability, and risk/benefit assessments. The ritual of applying through REBs means that qualitative researchers must twist their projects to fit into the
requirements of biomedical and positivist styled research. This is a recipe for misconstruing what can be promised or not to our research participants, and, perhaps more worrying, side-stepping potentially more central ethical issues that may be at work in the unique subcultures we encounter. Some have argued that contemporary models of ethical review in social science are usually focused on avoiding legal risk to the university, rather than respecting the values and etiquette of the group in question, to best protect their rights and dignity (Palys and Atchison 2021).
Ethnographers have long discussed the problems of formulating a grounded and inductive qualitative research project before it has begun, in that not all parameters of the research can be known beforehand (Becker 2009). Research ethics in qualitative research contains a parallel problem. To assume we know the ethical requirements of a given study prior to fieldwork or interviews is a major problem.

Consider for example, the case of indigenous research (Bull 2010). In contrast to the assumptions embedded in biomedical models, indigenous frameworks for research ethics ensures that decisions remain carefully tied to respectful communications and deliberations among community members as they unfold in their own time, with guidance from elders. Ethical best practices for a given group and
topic cannot be determined entirely prior to the research, since it will develop organically as research- participant-community relations develop over time. The best we can do is to learn and adapt as we participate in group discussions where ethical dilemmas can be resolved collectively.

1 In Canada, we refer to these boards as “research ethics boards” (REBs), while in the USA, they are usually referred to as Institutional Review Boards (IRBs). Nevertheless, the challenges seem to be much the same in terms of the
biomedical bias and the culture of audits.

Adhering to a rigid biomedical framework instead of learning about and participating in ethical decisions throughout the research process poses an ever-present dilemma in the social sciences and humanities, particularly in the case of qualitative research. In response to this difficulty, van den Hoonaard (2023) has recently made the argument to abandon the audit culture of ethical review boards entirely, and instead calls on qualitative researchers to develop an independent “research ethics covenant.” This means incorporating ethics as part and parcel of all aspects of the research process from beginning to end.

Rather than ethical considerations being housed entirely in the application process early on, we should train students and researchers how to handle all phases of the research process ethically by learning
from the very groups we study as we go along. With this in place, there is an expectation that ethical dilemmas and challenges will continue to emerge throughout the research journey, often in ways that
are specific to the context, values, and normative expectations of the group. This edited volume is a step toward this goal, which is to unpack the problem of ethics as a perennial “in-situ” concern that is
processual and emergent and must be collectively developed. Rather than assuming ethics can be reduced to handy but reductionist risk/benefit formulas, or abstract pillars translated into checklists, we strive instead for humanistic approaches to ethics in the field with the help and guidance of informants.

In this proposed edited volume, we invite authors to draw on their research experiences in the field to reflect on the key ethical issues that emerged during their projects. Rather than the typical reflection of how one navigated the required ethical review process at the outset, we are instead interested in stories of how researchers navigated ethical dilemmas as part of the research process itself. How did ethical
dilemmas emerge in ways that were not anticipated beforehand, and how were these resolved with others through the social process?
Example questions to include might be the following: What ethical assumptions were carried in originally, and how were these challenged through engagement with the group studied? What ethical lessons were learned from your field site and interviewees along the way? How do abstract concepts such as anonymity, confidentiality, vulnerability, and informed consent translate over into real-world decision-making in the field? In other words, how do researchers and participants make sense of the ethical principles required by REBs, but from the shifted standpoint of ethics as practiced by the
community? Were there any specific ethical dilemmas that arose during the research process, and how were you able to come up with creative solutions? Having completed the research, how do you now conceive of the risks and benefits inherent to the research study in ways that differ from the original REB application? How might ethics go beyond the designated research site, and move into political and social engagements with outsiders? What people, principles, values, and ideas shaped ethics decisions in ways that transcend usual REB concerns? In short, what are some of the key ethical lessons learned and developed in the field, in ways that defy the simple assumptions put forth from audit formulas that may have been applied at a distance?

If you are interested in submitting a paper for possible inclusion in this proposed volume, please send a title and 300 word abstract to Deana Simonetto and Antony Puddephatt, via email, to
qualitativeethics@gmail.com by October 31, 2023. Please also feel free to contact us if you have any questions about the project and how you might contribute. There is already interest on the part of publishing companies, but we would like to assess interest from you, the potential contributors, before we approach any specific company for a contract.

References
Becker, Howard S. 2009. “How to Find out how to do Qualitative Research,” International Journal of Communication, (3): 545-553.
Bull, Julie. 2010. “Research with Aboriginal Peoples: Authentic Relationships as a Precursor to Ethical Research,” Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics, 5(4): 3-22.
Palys, Ted and Chris Atchison. 2021. Research Methods in the Social and Health Sciences: Making Research Decisions. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Van den Hoonaard. 2002. Walking the Tightrope: Ethical Issues for Qualitative Researchers. Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press.
. 2011. The Seduction of Ethics: Transforming the Social Sciences. Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press.
. 2023. Seeking a Research-Ethics Covenant in the Social Sciences. Edmonton, Alberta: University of Alberta Press.

Obituary for Lyn H. Lofland by Ara Francis

Lyn H. Lofland, Professor Emerita in the Department of Sociology at the University of California, Davis, died on September 7th. Best known for her work in urban sociology and the sociology of death, dying, and bereavement, she was a dyed-in-the-wool symbolic interactionist and a long-time member of SSSI. She served as President of the society in 1980, was Mentor of the Year in 1998, and received the George Herbert Mead Award for lifetime contributions in 2001. I was one of Lyn’s last graduate students, and she was very dear to me. Here I append the obituary I authored for her in the ASA’s Member News and Notes.

Ara Francis, Associate Professor of Sociology, College of the Holy Cross

—

Lyn grew up in Juneau, Alaska and attended Stanford for a year before transferring to Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Initially a student of history, she fell in love with the discipline of sociology during an introductory course and hastened to declare it as her major. Having earned her bachelor’s degree in 1960, an era when it was uncommon for women to attend graduate school, Lyn worked as an administrative assistant and social worker for several years before enrolling at the University of Michigan. There she earned a master’s degree in 1966. She then joined the first cohort of doctoral students in the sociology program at the University of California, San Francisco, where she knew she could develop her interests in symbolic interaction and premise her research on observational data.

Much of Lyn’s scholarship grew out of her love for big cities, something she first discovered in Chicago and later relished about living in San Francisco. The dissertation that she submitted to complete her PhD in 1971 was published two years later as a monograph titled A World of Strangers: Order and Action in Urban Public Spaces. A foundational text among scholars of urban sociology and social interaction, the book is an analysis of how modern city dwellers navigate social spaces populated by strangers. In The Public Realm: Exploring the City’s Quintessential Social Territory, published in 1998, Lyn expanded this focus to consider the layered nature of urban social spaces, challenging her reader to see how public life is organized to encompass private activities and personal meanings. In doing so, she established the public realm as a rich, standalone sphere of study.

Lyn’s writing balanced brilliant sociological insight with strict analytical discipline. She jettisoned rhetorical flourish in favor of clear-eyed description, a style that has given her work a timeless quality. This is particularly evident in her scholarship on death and dying, emotion, and grief. In between the publication of World of Strangers and The Public Realm, Lyn wrote The Craft of Dying: The Modern Face of Death, an examination of how people at the time were responding to the slow, medicalized forms of dying that have come to characterize end-of-life experience. Originally published in 1978 but reissued in 2019, the text offers a trenchant critique of what Lyn called “The Happy Death Movement,” or the movement that gave rise to hospice care. So prescient was Lyn’s analysis that this book has reemerged as a touchstone for scholars of the death-positive movement today.

Shortly after joining the faculty at the University of California, Davis, Lyn developed the flagship course “Self & Society” and went on to teach courses in social interaction, urban sociology, and the sociology of death and dying. Early in her career she took special pleasure in lecturing to large groups of undergraduate students, jokingly referring to herself as a “showboat.” Graduate students sought her out not only for her substantive knowledge but also for her expertise in qualitative methods. Her co-authored text Analyzing Social Settings: A Guide to Qualitative Observation and Analysis remains widely used in the graduate training of qualitative sociologists.

When it came to the political work of academe, Lyn could be a fierce and savvy advocate — “feisty” in the words of one colleague — and she worked on behalf of faculty in many ways and at many levels. Perhaps most notably, she chaired the Department of Sociology at the University of California, Davis from 1996 to 1999, was President of the Pacific Sociological Association from 1989 to 1990, served as President of the Society for Symbolic Interaction from 1980 to 1981, and worked as the Academic Director for the Women’s Resources and Research Center at the University of California, Davis from 1976 to 1978.

In notes of remembrance, Lyn’s students and colleagues describe her as a “treasure” and a “rarity,” a wise and honest mentor. We will remember her for her remarkable accessibility, generosity, interpersonal ease, and warmth. She will be dearly missed.

Ara Francis, College of the Holy Cross

Eulogy: Norman Denzin (1941-2023) by Lonnie Athens

Eulogy: Norman Kent Denzin (1941-2023)

21 August 2023

Lonnie Athens

Norman Denzin was born in Iowa City, Iowa on March 24, 1941 where he received his A.B. degree in 1963 and doctorate in 1966, both in sociology from the University of Iowa. That same year, he was appointed as an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Illinois. Two ears later, he accepted an appointment as an assistant professor of sociology at the University of California at Berkeley where he remained until 1970. In 1971, he returned to the University of Illinois at Urbana, but this time as a tenured associate professor. In 1972, he was promoted to full professor. In 1985, the University of Illinois named him a Research Professor, and only one year later, honored him with a Distinguished Professorship. In 2005, Denzin became the Founding Director of the International Association of Qualitative Inquiry which hosted the annual meetings of the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry. Following his retirement in 2012, he became Professor Emeritus at the University of Illinois.

Over Denzin’s career, which spanned over a half century, he authored, co-authored, or edited in excess of fifty books, two hundred articles and book chapters, as well as one hundred book reviews. In addition, he received many accolades, including the George Herbert Mead and Charles Horton Cooley Award from the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction (hereafter, abbreviated as S.S.S. I.). He also served as president and vice-president of the S.S.S.I, as well as president of Midwest Sociological Society.

Norman Denzin represented much more than the academic appointments, promotions, books, articles, book chapters, book reviews, and many academic accolades enumerated on his resume. There was also Norman Denzin, the person, who I came to cherish and admire over the more than four decades. The Norman that I knew him can perhaps be best revealed in the following personal anecdotes.

During my graduate student days at Berkeley, I became aware of Denzin’s book The Research Act: A Theoretical Introduction to Sociological Research which Blumer had placed on his reading list for his graduate seminar on “Philosophy of Science and Qualitative Methods of Research.” I read Norman’s book, which has now been published and republished multiple times, as part of my preparations for my doctoral examination on methods. I asked Blumer if he knew Denzin to which Blumer replied that he knew him well. He explained that Norman had been an assistant professor in Berkeley’s department of sociology a few years before my arrival at the university, but left to return to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he had previously served as an assistant professor of sociology. Blumer, who was highly impressed by and fond of Norman, was disappointment by his decision to leave Berkeley. In Blumer’s opinion, Norman was a shoe-in for tenure and promotion, if he had remained a year or two longer in the department. The solution to the mystery surrounding Denzin’s departure from Berkeley is that he received an offer from University of Illinois which he could not refuse – tenure and promotion to associate professor with a promise of early promotion to full professor.

As best as I can now recall, I first met Norman at an annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction. I was standing around feeling awkward and out of place during a coffee break between sessions of the meeting when I spotted a large man dressed in Bermuda shorts, a large print Hawaiian shirt, and sandals who smiled, raised his hand out toward me and said “I am Norman Denzin; who are you?” I was shocked that Norman walked-up and introduced himself to me. I told him that I had been a doctoral student of Blumer’s at Berkeley where I received my doctorate degree a few years earlier. Norman replied that he had seen my article on violent criminals in the first volume of the journal, Symbolic Interaction, and was hoping he might run into me at the meeting. He remarked that he knew Blumer and was a great fan of his work. I was taken back by the fact that a former doctoral student of Manford Kuhn, the founder of the Iowa School of Symbolic Interaction, had such high regard for Blumer. Norman also surprisingly revealed that Kuhn respected Blumer almost as much as he did. After this initial meeting, we fast became friends.

We next met one another two or three years later at another annual meeting of the S.S.S.I. I complained to him that members of the S.S.S.I. frequently disputed my reading of Blumer’s and Mead’s positions on this or that matter when I attended the society’s meetings. I related to Norman that the most recent incident in which this happened was when I delivered a paper on Blumer’s discussion of the method of naturalistic inquiry, which at my request, he read and commented on. Although as I now recall Blumer never raised any major issues with my exposition of the method, he only recommended that I illustrate his use of it. In reaction to my complaint about SSSI members disputing my exposition of the method to which Denzin was sympathetic, he asked me to send him a copy of the paper, so he could develop a more informed opinion about it. A few months later, he sent me a letter in which he agreed to publish my paper in his annual, Studies in Symbolic Interaction, on two conditions. The first was that I illustrate Blumer’s use of the method, and second that I submit to him a second related paper on how research done using the method of naturalistic inquiry could be evaluated. I gladly did what Norman asked and he published both papers.

After Norman founded the International Association of Qualitative Inquiry in 2005, I would regularly attend its annual meetings. When I later stopped, Norman asked me why I had stopped coming to the association’s annual congresses. I responded that I did not think the topic of my papers strongly resonated with the other attendees of the Congress, most of whom were faculty members in schools of education or communication and who subscribed to neo-pragmatism or post modernism, which as you know, true classical pragmatists, do not subscribe to. Norman replied “Well, you have not given it enough time; you can’t gain converts overnight – you need to have more patience; it takes years for something like that to happen.” I retorted, “Norman, I have regularly attended your Congresses for several years.” He looked at me with a twinkle in his eye and said “Look at it this way, what other Society or Congress do you know of where you can deliver your papers on whatever you want, raise hell at the sessions that you attend, and still be welcomed back the next year? If you do decide to start regularly coming to our meetings again, it’s okay with me if you raise all the damn hell that you want at our sessions.”

The last time that I saw Norman was outside the main entrance to the University of Illinois’s Student Center where the Congress of Qualitative Inquiry was headquartered during its annual meetings. After a long absence from the annual meetings of the Congress, I decided to attend again. Near the end of the congress, I spotted Norman out of the corner of my eye. I kept saying “Hi,” but Norman acted as if did not hear me, so I said it louder. When Norman finally responded to me, he said “I feel bad letting the great Lonnie Athens see me while sitting in a wheelchair.” As Norman was helped into the car, I was dumb founded by what he said to me. As the car in which he was seated drove down the oval driveway of the student center onto the main road, tears rolled down my cheeks. I thought “there goes the person who has contributed more than anyone else in the world to the promotion, development, and institutionalization of the use of qualitative methods.” The annual congresses of the International Association of Qualitative Inquiry that he directeddrew over two thousand attendees from over one hundred different countries. It was not me who was the great man, but Norman Denzin. His death will leave a large hole in many people’s lives, including mine.

Updated Program for 2023 SSSI Annual Meetings in Philadelphia #sssi #sociology #annualmeetings #conference

Interdisciplinary Encounters: influence, identity and dialogue in Symbolic Interactionist research

2023 Annual Meetings of the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction
Philadelphia, PA August 15-17, 2023 West Chester University of Pennsylvania

[PDF of the Program at the bottom of this page]

Venue

All session rooms are located at the West Chester University Philadelphia campus. Please note that this site is separate from the main WCU campus. Photographs are on the next page and the address is:

701 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106

https://www.wcupa.edu/_admin/philly/philadelphiaCampusMap.aspx

This is the Lits Building (the large building taking up the block of Market St. between 7th and 8th Streets) at 701 Market Street. The Academic and Classroom Suite is located on the concourse/lower level of the building. Enter through the glass doors in between the escalators across from Five Below.

Conference schedule at a glance:

Tuesday, August 15 Rooms

8:30 – 9:00 Registration and coffee Strauss

9.00 – 9.15 Welcome and opening address Clarke

9.15 – 10.15 Guest speaker: Andrii Melnikov Clarke

10.30 – 12:00 Concurrent Sessions Lofland/Charmaz/Goffman

10:30 – 12:00 Publications Committee Meeting Becker

12.00 – 1:30 Lunch break (on your own)

1:30 – 3:00 Concurrent Sessions Lofland/Charmaz/Goffman

3.30: – 5.00 Concurrent Sessions Lofland/Charmaz/Goffman

6.00 – 8.00 Meet up at Independence Beer Garden*

Wednesday, August 16

8:30 – 9:00 Registration and coffee Strauss

9:00 – 10:30 Concurrent Sessions Lofland/Charmaz/Goffman

11:00 – 12:30 Concurrent Sessions Lofland/Charmaz/Goffman

12:30 – 2:00 Lunch break (on your own)

12.45 – 1.45 Reminiscence and Remembrance of Norman K. Denzin (Clarke, TBC)

2:00 – 3:30 Concurrent Sessions Lofland/ Goffman

2.00 – 3.30 Executive Committee Meeting Becker

4:00 – 5:00 Distinguished Lecture: Jacqueline Low Clarke
6:00 – 7:00 Drinks Reception**
7:00 – 9:00 Banquet and Annual Awards**

Thursday, August 17

8:30 – 9:00 Registration and coffee Strauss

9:00 – 10:30 Concurrent Sessions Lofland /Goffman

11:00 – 12:30 Panel discussion: The Intellectual Legacy of Lyn H. Lofland Clarke

12.30 – 2.00 Kathy Charmaz workshop in Qualitative Data Analysis Charmaz

12:30 – 2:00 Lunch break (on your own)

2.00 – 3.30 Interpretive Lenses book series launch and panel discussion Clarke

3.45 – 5.00 SSSI Annual Members’ Business Meeting Clarke

*Independence Beer Garden: https://www.phlbeergarden.com

100 S Independence Mall West
Philadelphia, PA 19106

**Estia Restaurant: https://estiarestaurant.com

1405-07 Locust Street

Philadelphia, PA 19102

Program Planning Committee
Susie Scott, Vice President SSSI, University of Sussex (Chair)

Natalia Ruiz-Junco, Past-Vice President SSSI, Auburn University

Jacqueline Low, Vice President Elect SSSI, University of New Brunswick

Tony Puddephatt, President SSSI, Lakehead University

Michael Borer, Past President SSSI, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Thaddeus Muller, President Elect SSSI, Lancaster University

Stacey Hannem, Secretary SSSI, Wilfrid Laurier University

Jill Crocker, Treasurer SSSI, SUNY Old Westbury

Julie Wiest, Local member SSSI, West Chester University

Beth Montemurro, Local member SSSI, Pennsylvania State University

Elizabeth C. Hughes, Local member SSSI, Pennsylvania State University

Thank you to all of our student volunteers at the registration desk and to the Couch family for their continued support of student attendance at SSSI!

“Lits” building (with WCU branding wrapped around the top) at corner of 7th and Market:

Main entrance to the “Lits” building:

Tuesday, August 15 — 9:00-9.15 Welcome and opening address

Tony Puddephatt (President) and Susie Scott (Vice President)

Clarke room

Our SSSI President, Tony Puddephatt and Vice President, Susie Scott will open the conference and welcome you all to the event.

Tuesday, August 15 — 9:15-10.15 Guest speaker: Andrii Melnikov (in conversation with Joseph Kotarba)

Clarke room

Andrii Melnikov, Dr. Hab. (a_melnikov@knu.ua)

Department of Social Structures and Social Relations, Faculty of Sociology

Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv, Ukraine

Joseph A. Kotarba (joseph.kotarba@txstate.edu)

Texas State University, USA

“The everyday life world of war: an interactionist and existentialist view”

This conversation represents the process and some intermediate results of the author’s theoretical and empirical study of the Russia-Ukraine war. There is a theoretical outline of existential sociology and reflections on its application to field research into everyday war contexts and personal experiences. The concepts of existential self, authenticity, life‑meaning attitudes, existential risk and choice are considered as the main analytical units for the qualitative research strategy, with methods of existential ethnography, visual, situational, and sensory analysis, in-depth interview, and lifelogging.

Tuesday, August 15 —10:30-12.00 Concurrent Sessions

Tuesday, August 15 — 1.30–3:00 Concurrent Sessions

Tuesday, August 15 — 3:30-5.00 Concurrent Sessions

Wednesday, August 16 — 9:00-10:30 Concurrent Sessions

| | Transgression, deviance and stigma | | | ------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Goffman room | Session Chair: Carley Geiss | | Suman Mondal, Wilfrid Laurier University | In the eyes of the state: the construction of non-Hindu LGBTQIA+ individuals in Northern India | | Amy Chandler, University of Edinburgh | Suicide cultures and the social meanings of suicide in the 21st century | | Thaddeus Muller, University of Lancaster | Becoming a moral entrepreneur. Fighting for justice. Russel Portenoy, the normalisation of opioid painkillers and the denial of the opioid crises |

Wednesday, August 16 — 11:00-12:30 Concurrent Sessions

Wednesday, August 16 — 12:45-1:45 Reminiscence and Remembrance of Norman K. Denzin (Clark, TBC)

Wednesday, August 16 — 2:00-3:30 Concurrent Sessions

Wednesday, August 16 — 4:00-5:00 Distinguished Lecture:

Jacqueline Low

Clarke room

“Kathy Charmaz and Adele Clarke: The Two Doyennes of the Second Generation of Grounded Theory”

Dr Jacqueline Low (jlow@unb.ca)

University of New Brunswick

I am very honoured to discuss Adele Clarke and Kathy Charmaz, who I style as the two doyennes of the second generation of grounded theory for this 2023 SSSI keynote address. In my remarks I focus on their shared training in grounded theory under Anselm Strauss; the bonds of friendship and scholarship they shared together; and the important and innovative variants of grounded theory they each developed. I conclude by conceptualizing Charmaz and Clarke as what my colleague Gary Bowden and I refer to as ‘principal interpreters’ of the Chicago School Diaspora.

Wednesday August 16 — 6:00 – 7:00 Drinks Reception

— 7:00 – 9:00 Banquet and Annual Awards

Estia Restaurant, 1405-07 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102

Phone: (215) 735-7700

Please bring your banquet ticket!

Thursday, August 17 — 9:00-10:30 Concurrent Sessions

Thursday, August 17 — 11:00-12:30 Panel discussion

Thursday, August 17 — 12:30-2:00

Kathy Charmaz workshop in Qualitative Data Analysis

This interactive, student-led workshop aims to help doctoral students and early career researchers with the practical procedures of qualitative data analysis. It is named in honour of Kathy Charmaz, who used to run sessions in Grounded Theory at the annual meeting; we will draw upon her approaches and techniques alongside other methods of qualitative data analysis. We will invite you to work in small groups, assisted by a facilitator. Please bring along some of your own qualitative data to analyse (e.g. interview transcripts or documents), but those who do not yet have any data are also welcome.

Lunch will be provided: please register in advance and tell us your dietary requirements.

Thursday, August 17 — 12:45-1:45

Reminiscence and Remembrance of Norman K. Denzin

Lofland room

We are saddened to hear of the recent passing of Professor Norman K. Denzin, who inspired and mentored so many interactionist scholars. This informal gathering provides an opportunity to come together in remembrance, discuss the legacy of Norman’s work and share memories of him as a person. Please bring your own lunch to eat in the session.

Thursday, August 17 — 2:00-3:30 Book series launch

Thursday, August 17 — 3:45-5:00 SSSI Business Meeting

Clarke room

All SSSI members are welcome and encouraged to attend and learn about current society matters and future plans.

Wishing you all safe travels and hope to see you next year in Pisa!

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Dining guide (* indicates BIPOC/LGBTQIA+ owners)

Leisure guide:

Things to do in Philadelphia

Here are some of the outdoor attractions that you can reach by walking or a short drive from the conference.

Near the conference: Dilworth Park and City Hall (a beautiful structure); Reading Terminal Market.

Independence Mall — Liberty Bell and Independence Hall (https://www.nps.gov/inde/planyourvisit/hours.htm**)**The inscription on the cracked but mighty Liberty Bell — “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof” — is one reason it was a symbol to abolitionists, suffragists and other freedom-seekers around the world. Its dramatic backdrop is Independence Hall, where the nation was founded. Guided tours are available year-round. The National Constitution Center is here. Old city is just blocks from this area and the grave of Ben Franklin, and assorted historic homes and museums are worth wandering through. The cobblestone streets are home to some very good bars and restaurants (and the Bourse https://theboursephilly.com/).

The Rocky Steps and the Rocky Statue Since Rocky’s onscreen run up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the 72 steps have become an international destination. To finish off the experience, head to the bottom of the stairs and snap a photo with the bronze statue of Rocky, created for Rocky III. Then, venture inside the Philadelphia Museum of Art (see below).

The Museums on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway The Benjamin Franklin Parkway, modelled after the Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris, is called Philadelphia’s most artistic mile for good reason. Some of the city’s most important cultural institutions are housed here, including the Rodin Museum (https://rodinmuseum.org/), Barnes Foundation (https://www.barnesfoundation.org/), The Franklin Institute (https://www.fi.edu/en), The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University (https://ansp.org/), and its crown jewel, the Philadelphia Museum of Art (https://philamuseum.org/). Some may like the less well known Mütter Museum (https://muttermuseum.org/) America’s finest museum of medical history. The goal of the Museum is to help visitors understand the mysteries and beauty of the human body and appreciate the history of diagnosis and treatment of disease. In a different part of town, but also close to the conference, is the African American Museum of Philadelphia (https://www.aampmuseum.org/).

Love Park, Sister Cities Park, and the Love (or Amor) Statues One of Philly’s best-known landmarks is located in Love Park, the Love Statue. Nice photo op with views of City Hall and the Art Museum. Because love comes in all languages in Philadelphia, there’s an AMOR sculpture — a Spanish edition of the LOVE sculpture — on display at Sister Cities Park, a six-minute walk from LOVE Park.

The Squares (Rittenhouse Square, Washington Square, Love Park, Dilworth Park)

Philadelphia has many “parks” – the largest being Fairmont. Several of the parks are squares that occupy just a few city blocks but are havens for city dwellers. Great for people watching, dog watching, and coffee sipping. Walking and running along the Schuykill River is also lovely, with entrances at Chestnut Street, Walnut Street, and the Art Museum.

Mural Arts Philadelphia Go on a Mural Arts tour and see amazing art existing all around the city of Philadelphia. There are lots of different tours to choose from, and you will need to book in advance: https://www.muralarts.org/tours/

Fishtown: The hippest section of Philadelphia with many great bars and restaurants all popping up in the last decade.

South Street and Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens: South St. has a “mini-Greenwich village” area between 2nd and 6th Streets, leading to Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens (PMG). PMG is an immersive mixed media art environment that is completely covered with mosaics (tiles, bottles, bicycle wheels, mirror, and international folk art). https://www.phillymagicgardens.org/

Music & theater: https://www.visitphilly.com/articles/philadelphia/where-to-see-live-music-in-philadelphia/ – time

Kimmel center, Chris’ Jazz Cafe, The Mann center, The Academy of Music, City Winery, Fillmore, Met, Tower, World Cafe.

Shopping: Walnut St. between Broad and 19th has high end stores. Market Street East of the hotel has a mall.

PDF of Program

SSSI Annual Meetings 2023 in Philadelphia – Registration

Dear Colleagues

as you know we will hold the SSSI Annual Meetings 2023 in Philadelphia.

For more information on the conference, please go HERE

To REGISTER for the conference, please follow this LINK

Best wishes

SSSI Conference Organization Team

SSSI 2023 Annual Meetings in Philadelphia (August 15th to 17th)

Dear colleagues,

I hope you are all well and looking forward to our next annual meeting in Philadelphia, August 15th-17th 2023. The conference theme is “Interdisciplinary encounters: Influence, identity and dialogue in Symbolic Interactionist research” and our Keynote speaker will be Professor Adele Clarke.

Firstly, please note that our call for abstracts (both papers and session proposals) has been extended until Friday May 19th, so please do submit your ideas if you haven’t already done so. The online submission form is here: https://forms.gle/pxCQ73Nu138mdibz7

Secondly, a note about accommodation. This year, we are holding the conference at the West Chester University campus in downtown Philadelphia, (701 Market Street, Philadelphia) which provides excellent facilities in a pleasant academic environment. However, this means that there is not a designated conference hotel with discounted room rates, so you will need to make your own accommodation arrangements. Below is a list of suggested hotels in the area with distance to the conference location, which we hope will be helpful. Please note that the ASA is also holding its meeting in the city, so you may want to book soon before places fill up.

DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Philadelphia Center City (0.9 miles from conference location)

Hyatt Centric Center City Philadelphia (1.2 miles

Loews Philadelphia Hotel (0.4 miles)

Sofitel Philadelphia (1.3 miles)

Sonesta Philadelphia Rittenhouse Square (1.0 miles)

The Inn at Penn, a Hilton Hotel (3.3. miles)

The Logan Philadelphia, Curio Collection by Hilton (1.4 miles)

Warwick Hotel Rittenhouse Square (1.1 miles)

Wyndham Philadelphia Historic District (0.4 miles)

The registration link is also now live. Please ensure that you remove any unnecessary default categories/payments before finalizing your registration payment. Options are available to sponsor a student member and to sponsor student banquet tickets — if you choose to sponsor a student, please let us know at sssinteraction@gmail.com if that sponsorship should be directed to a particular student or if we should allocate it to one of our student presenters.

Registration Link: https://buy.stripe.com/00gaI36ynb6Zdck8wz

Website: https://sssiorg.wordpress.com/conferences-and-events/2023-sssi-bi-annual-meeting/

As a reminder, all presenters must be current members of SSSI. If you are receiving this email via the list-serve and not directly, please ensure that your membership is up to date by renewing your membership via Wiley’s website at: https://ordering.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/Lite/Membership.aspx?ref=1533-8665&site=1

Renewing your membership now will also make you eligible to vote in our upcoming Executive Board elections!

We thank you in advance for your participation and look forward to seeing you in Philadelphia!

Best wishes

Prof. Susie Scott (Vice President) and the SSSI Conference Organising Committee

Deadline Extension for the submission of Abstracts: SSSI 2023 Annual Meetings in Philadelphia #sssi #emca #sociology

Dear SSSI Members,

we are pleased to announce that we are accepting submissions for the 2023 Annual Meetings to be held in Philadelphia, August 15-17. The extended deadline for the submission of Abstracts is May 19th, 2023.

The theme of the Annual Meetings is “Interdisciplinary encounters: Influence, identity and dialogue in Symbolic Interactionist research” and our Keynote speaker will be Professor Adele Clarke. The full call for papers is attached. Please feel free to share with your colleagues and students and please submit single/co-authored submissions here: https://forms.gle/pxCQ73Nu138mdibz7

by May 19th, 2023.

We look forward to seeing you all in Philadelphia!

Best wishes,

Stacey Hannem

Secretary, SSSI

EU Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction Conference 2023 Cardiff University (July 5th -7th 2023) #sssi #conference #eusssi #sociology

Symbolic interactionism has a longstanding history of engaging with issues of social justice and equality. Contemporary research and theory has increasingly dealt directly with various forms of discrimination and exclusion demonstrating the strong potential of symbolic interactionism to engage with, document, and support efforts at affecting social change and realising social justice based aims. Through gaining “intimate familiarity” (in Kathy Charmaz’s words) and developing theory that is sensitive to the local conditions of inequality and division, social processes rather than obdurate social structures are revealed. In this way, such analyses can reveal where the cracks in unevenly organised and experienced societies might be found and where possibilities of hope can emerge. What seems to be clear is an increased recognition that a contribution to furthering social justice is both a possible and, even, preferred destination for symbolic interactionist studie

The conference invites participants to discuss research relating to both symbolic interactionism of social justice and symbolic interactionism for social justice in whatever form that may take. The conference is therefore an opportunity to generate productive dialogue relating to potential directions of travel for an interactionism that fully engages with challenges and contexts for achieving social justice in contemporary society. As always, the conference also welcomes papers and panels that demonstrate the state-of-the-art in symbolic interactionist (and aligned) research and theory.

We are delighted that the conference will feature keynote speakers Black Hawk Hancock and Emma Engdahl, as well as an address from our own Paul Atkinson and Sara Delamont. There will also be a pre-conference workshop on Grounded Theory (4th July) delivered by Thaddeus Muller.

Abstract and Panel submission deadline: 31st March

Please email EUSSSI23@cardiff.ac.uk
Registration details to follow