Essay - Perspectives Symbolic Interactionist Perspective of the Sidewalk of New York's...

perspectives symbolic interactionist perspective of the Sidewalk of New York's Greenwich Village booksellers

See the men on the sidewalks, selling books. Most passers by simply regard this as an unsavory aspect ***** local culture, a way that homeless people make a living. But to the sociologist Michael Duneier, this is a vibrant and vital aspect of local culture. The individuals, most ***** whom formerly drug dealers, ***** use of the first amendment's allowance ***** freely purvey printed material. But they also function as counselors and mentors for many of the dissolute and desperate young men of ***** neighborhood, particularly one man named Hasan, who can cross reference different texts, chapter and verse, that the young ***** is studying. Throughout his text, Michael Duneier reaffirms ***** value of ***** interactionism, showing a sensitive portrayal of these usually black men who live on the margins of society, yet communicate and construct a sub***** on ***** streets through the sidew*****lk life ***** ***** books.

***** sociologist Duneier must be com*****ded as not existing as a mere observer to t***** sidew*****lk cul*****ure—he became a function*****l part of it and achieved a level of acceptance, though his *****icipation. He was not initially fluent in the symbolic language of *****se reformed drug dealers in his "religion (I am Jewish and most of them are Muslim or Christian), level of education (I hold a Ph.D. in sociology ***** attended two years of law school, whereas some of them did not graduate from high school), and occupation (Duneier, 1999, p. 6). Yet after becoming friendly with Hasan, albeit ***** ***** the few street book sellers who was neither homeless n***** an addict Duneier gradually gained a *****oint of entry into this life *****nd began to get know most ***** the street's other vendors.

Duneier, over the course of his experiences, becomes aw***** ***** a society of m*****ny symbolic layers of interaction and hierarchies. For instance, in addition to ***** most respected booksellers like Hasan, there are also scavengers, illegally dumpster diving through recycling bins searching out recent issues of desirable titles to sell like Wired, and Playboy, and catalogues from L.L. Bean ***** Lands' End, Vic*****ria's Secret, Christie's and Sothe*****'s, as well as ********** books." (Duneier, 1991, p.30)

According to the first chapter of Sociology: the Core by ***** Hughes and Carolyn J. Kroehler, symbolic interactionists like ***** contend that society is possible because human beings have the ability to communicate ***** one an***** by me*****s of symbols. They say ***** we act toward people, objects, and events on the bas***** of ***** meanings ***** impart to them. Symbolically, the books confer more status on Hasan, while the magazines ***** less prestigious. The 'lowest' sellers are ***** men who sometimes panhandle and sell illegally 'lifted' items. And all of the vendors have those in their service, such as the table watchers, placeholders who save the vendor's spots overnight on the street, the movers who transport the books and ***** all important storage providers ***** can store the pr*****ted