HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM
A Timeline of S.I.
1800-1900
In U. S. History: The Industrial Revolution.
1848 - The first wave of Feminism begins
Births & Deaths
1858 – Birth of Simmel
1859 – Birth of Dewey
1863 – Birth of Mead
1864 – Birth of Cooley
1900-1920s
In U.S. History: World War I
Beginning of Behaviorism as a theory of human development
Cooley comes up with his concept of the "looking
glass self" as an explanation for how we develop the concept of "self"
in both group and personal life.
1929 - The stock market crashes
Births & Deaths
1900 – Birth of Blumer
1918 – Death of Simmel
1922 – Birth of Goffman
1929 – Death of Cooley
1930s
In U.S. History: The Great Depression
1934 - Herbert Mead teaches a social psychology course, and a student's notes are transcribed into the book Mind, Self, and Society. Symbolic Interactionism is developed.
1937 - The term "Symbolic Interactionism" is coined by Herbert Blumer.
Births & Deaths
1931 – Death of Mead
1940s
In U.S. History: World War II
Blumer teaches a cohort of graduate students at the University of Chicago, including Erving Goffman and Howard Becker.
The "Chicago School" of SI is developed, relying on a more anthropological technique of participant observation as a research method.
1950s
In U.S. History: The Cold War
In U.S. History: The Korean War
The Iowa School of SI is founded by Manford Kuhn.
Births & Deaths
1952 – Death of Dewey
1950s-1960s
In U.S. History: The Civil Rights Movement.
Major social upheaval on College Campuses
Television becomes the primary source of information, changing reality as we knew it.
Kuhn seeks to develop a set of principles derived from the original Interactionist founders, but tested by empirical means, including experimental study and research.
1960s – 1970s
In U.S. History: The Vietnam War
The second wave of Feminism begins.
Nixon declares a war on poverty in the U.S. until it is undermined by the war in Vietnam.
The discipline of sociology becomes more open to critical and qualitative perspectives.
As the cohort from the Chicago school ages, their ideas expand. SI becomes "muddied."
1970s – 1980s
In U.S. History: The Watergate Scandal
The institutes of interactionist training dissipate.
Goffman's work begins to change the course of sociology.
1977 – The founding of the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interactionism.
1986 – Blumer dies, and what will be called "Post-Blumerian" SI begins, merging with virtually all sociological traditions.
1990s-
In U.S. History: The Gulf War begins.
In U.S. History: The Cold War is over.
Mainstream sociologists begin accepting SI as an essential viewpoint in sociology.
Births & Deaths
1982 – Death of Goffman
1987 – Death of Blumer
