Symbolic Interactionism and the Concept of Social Structure

Abstract

Although Blumer asserts that to deny the existence of “structure” in human society is “ridiculous,” just such a denial has commonly been attributed to him. The more conventional mainstream understanding of structure in sociology, however, is theoretically incoherent, as demonstrated by classic and modern studies of, for example, stratification. Blumer's sociology is shown, with particular reference to its bases in the pragmatist tradition, to provide an alternative understanding of structure that is both theoretically coherent and capable of empirical investigation. Furthermore, it is capable of dissolving the dilemma of structure and agency in contemporary sociological theory.