The Rising Salience of the Absent: An Interactionist Analysis

Hillyard, Sam

Abstract

The paper uses examples from rural studies to demonstrate the relevance of symbolic interactionism for unlocking the complexity of contemporary society. It does so by making a case for a nonprescriptive theory-method dialectic. Case examples are drawn upon in support of the argumentation, including early interactionism and ethnographic work in the United Kingdom, and, in the second half of the paper, rural sociology and fieldwork. The main argument presented is that the traditional remit of interactionism should be extended to recognize how absence is increasingly influential. It concludes that interactionism is in tune with other new trajectories in the social sciences that take into consideration co-presence proximity both on and off-line.

Citation

Hillyard, S. (2019). The Rising Salience of the Absent: An Interactionist Analysis. Qualitative Sociology Review, 15(2), 56-72. https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8077.15.2.05

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: May 23, 2019
• Publication Date: May 23, 2019
• Deposit Date: Jul 3, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 3, 2019
• Journal: Qualitative sociology review QSR.
• Print ISSN: 1733-8077
• Electronic ISSN: 1733-8077
• Publisher: University of Lodz
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 15
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 56-72
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8077.15.2.05
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1297807