What are some of ways in which we “stage” our performances in social life, switching off between our “back” and “front” regions in the interest of managing our social encounters with other persons or institutions (Farganis 281)?

Herbert Blumer (“Society as Symbolic Interaction”) argued for a “symbolic interactionist” theoretical paradigm in sociology that focuses on studying the “fluidity of social action, the reflexivity of the self, and the negotiated character of everyday life” to explain individual behavior within a social context (see Farganis 271). The concept of self-reflexivity refers to the ways in which humans are conscious actors that draw on their own experiential history and depth of knowledge when making behavioral decisions and responding to social situations (in short, our behaviors are caused by the process of social interaction). Mead (Farganis 125) argues that humans are reflexive because “we are able to understand and react to what others think and say about our behavior.” As Mead put it, “you and I think before we act” in pursuit of our life’s activities and choices (Farganis 125).

In this essay you are asked to do the following in terms of laying out theories of symbolic interaction. First, explain how the theories of both Blumer and Mead are social theories of individual behavior, i.e., that look beyond “conventional psychological categories” to account for human action (Farganis, p. 275). Use material from the readings to make your point. Second, pick out a passage from the Blumer reading that best illustrates his point about the “fluidity of social action” OR the “reflexivity of the self,” and apply an illustration of it through an example of your choosing. Third, explain how Goffman’s dramaturgical frame for explaining social interaction (“The “Presentation of Self…”) helps to explain the “negotiated character of everyday life.” For example, what are some of the ways that we engage in “impression management” (Farganis, p. 282), and why do we do this? What are some of ways in which we “stage” our performances in social life, switching off between our “back” and “front” regions in the interest of managing our social encounters with other persons or institutions (Farganis 281)?

NOTE: For purposes of this assignment, examples are defined as quoted passages or other pieces of evidence, illustrations, etc. contained in specific readings. Be sure to provide SPECIFIC PAGE NUMBERS in Farganis when you provide specific examples and especially quoted passages.

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