Sociological analysis has been replete with debates about “micro” and “macro,” individual and society, but all too often these miss the point: interacting groups are the hinge that connects them. To understand how structures matter and how individuals navigate them, we must take groups and people in local communities seriously.
Gary Alan Fine and Tim Hallett skillfully argue that sociologists have the obligation to examine the role of small communities in the creation of both the interaction order and structural realities. With novel concepts and rich ethnographic examples, this book describes how group commitments shape selves and society, emphasizing the importance of a meso-level approach to social organization. Focusing on shared action, Fine and Hallett provide new models of identity, culture, conflict, and control. They conclude by considering how a network of groups can provide insight into extended communication channels and social media lattices. Ultimately they show that, despite the importance of institutions and individuals, group life is the fundamental building block of community.
This timely book makes the case for a local sociology that includes sociality. It will be a welcomed resource for students and sociologists and a necessary call to action for the discipline as a whole.
Industry Reviews
“Fine and Hallett make a persuasive case for a 'local' sociology that treats seriously the significance of groups, their routines and cultures. A major contribution to the broadly interactionist tradition in contemporary sociology.”
Paul Atkinson, Cardiff University
“Extending their discipline-defining contributions, Fine and Hallett broaden our understanding of the social dimension of human interactions as they impact meaning-making and action. They propose an original and encompassing sociological approach to group life that will be widely referenced in years to come.”
Michele Lamont, Harvard University
“Their roadmap is urgently needed in a sociology currently obsessed with provincialism, parochialism, and only the dark sides of life. Amidst this doom and gloom, Fine and Hallett shine a bright light on the familiar, which often suffers from, well, its familiarity. Theirs is not just an effort to remind everyone that local sociology is still important. It is the framework for doing sociology.”
Seth Abrutyn, Symbolic Interaction
“[Fine and Hallett’s] invitation toward a local sociology is one to which many sociologists should RSVP both affirmatively and enthusiastically. […They] have written a book that is timely and provocative, as well as firmly rooted in long-standing sociological traditions. Moreover, they dare us as sociologists to break free from tired conceptual dichotomies of macro versus micro.”
Social Forces
“Fine and Hallett offer a fresh view for organizational scholars by pointing to groups and their relationality as the crux of meso analysis… Fine and Hallett’s book should therefore be of particular interest to organizational scholars studying imagined futures, early moments, and prefigurative organizing, as well as the importance of culture, place, and space.”
Timothy R. Hannigan, Administrative Science Quarterly
