The social construction of equality in everyday life

Human Studies 23 (4):371-393 (2000)
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Abstract

This article proposes "equality" as a topic for interactionist research. By drawing on the perspectives of Herbert Blumer, Alfred Schutz, and Harold Garfinkel, an attempt is made to lay the theoretical groundwork for studying the interpretive and experiential aspects of equality. Blumer's fundamental premises of symbolic interactionism, Schutz's analysis of relevance and typification, and Garfinkel's treatment of reflexivity and indexicality are explicated and applied to the subject of equality. I then draw upon the moral theory of John Dewey to suggest the positive role that interactionist theory and research might play in the resolution of problematic situations that are framed in terms of equality. Collectively, the complementary aspects of Blumer's, Schutz's, Garfinkel's, and Dewey's thought are used to justify and launch a program of research on a neglected yet important topic: the social construction of equality in everyday life.

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Citations of this work

The Crisis of Liberal Democracy and the Confucian Challenge: A Pragmatist Response.Sor-Hoon Tan - 2022 - Journal of Social and Political Philosophy 1 (1):14-29.
Reflections on a Phenomenology of Power.Jochen Dreher - 2013 - Schutzian Research. A Yearbook of Worldly Phenomenology and Qualitative Social Science 5 (2013):103-119.
Reflections on a Phenomenology of Power.Jochen Dreher - 2013 - Schutzian Research 5 (2013):103-119.

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