Essay - Symbolic Interactionism in Sidewalk Culture of 'Sidewalk' by Mitchell Duneier...

Symbolic Interactionism in Sidewalk culture of "Sidewalk" by Mitchell Duneier

Mitchell Duneier's "Sidewalk" provides a descriptive, narrative, and ethnographic view ***** "sidewalk culture" in contemporary American society. Generat*****g data and information from in-depth inter*****s ***** participant observation of housed and unhoused vendors and scavengers in the streets ***** New York City, Duneier sought to identify the process ***** which "informal structures" within ***** culture are created, developed, and perpetuated. His discussion and analyses of this qualitative information reflects the paradigm of symbolic interactionism as the dominant perspective at which sidewalk culture, its n*****ure, and its dynamics can be viewed.

Symbolic interactionism, a sociological paradigm developed primarily by the sociologist George Herbert Mead, posits that culture, organizations, ***** social structures are ***** through daily communications and interactions among people. Moreover, symbolic interactionism also takes in***** account ***** emergence of patterns and rules ***** govern social interaction within a particular society or community. "Sidewalk" ***** analyses that show how social interaction between the sidewalk vendors and ***** who frequent the places these vendors ***** stationed or situated are conducted, and these ***** demonstrated through the narratives ***** documentation ***** the experiences of the vend*****s and ***** in these New York *****s.

***** important point that the book discusses the potential importance ***** his study, since it documents a p*****rticular phenomenon in ***** society wherein ***** structures are built and developed *****ly, ***** opposed to the common notion that people hold when, for example, conducting business in the c*****y. This is an important feature of symbolic **********, since ***** are formed or created based on social interacti*****s alone. ***** describes the creation of an informal structure, which characterizes sidewalk culture, in the s*****ry of Hakim Hasan. Hasan, as well as other vendors and scavengers in New York sidewalks, ***** their customers make up the members of the so-called sidewalk culture. Within this ***** culture, patterns of interaction emerge. An example would be Hasan's role not only as a vendor, but ***** as a conversationalist for his customers, discussing topics ***** pertain to or about the merchandise that he sells, which are second-hand books.

A second feature ***** ***** symbolic interactionism in sidewalk culture as determ*****ed by the author is ***** assignment of specific roles by its *****, and th***** is illustrated in *****e story of Alice, the tradebooks and popular pocketbooks vendor, and Hasan, the "black books" seller. Both are book vendors, yet, in ***** sidewalk *****, Hasan maintains a more personal relationship with his customers, letting their business transaction go beyond the purchase ***** ***** to discussing issues that his customers may deem important ***** them to discuss with him (Hasan).

*****" assumes a ***** inter*****ctionist perspective ***** its third feature, which is the temporariness of the sidewalk culture itself. Since this culture is ***** and its members temporarily bound to the urban space (*****s), interaction ***** also temporary, despite its having ***** a p*****ttern and certain set of rules that its members adhere to everyday. The temporariness of sidewalk culture is