Group Life

Gary Alan Fine is James E. Johnson Professor of Sociology at Northwestern University.Tim Hallett is Professor of Sociology at Indiana University Bloomington.

• OpeningChapter One: Believing in Groups: The Possibility of a Local SociologyPart I: The Individual in the Group Chapter Two: Being in Groups: Reflective and Collective Identities Chapter Three: Belonging to Groups: The Power and Benefits of CommitmentPart II: The World of the GroupChapter Four: Building Groups: The Power of IdiocultureChapter Five: Bonding by Groups: The Basis for Collective Action Part III: The Group in the WorldChapter Six: Battling Groups: The Minuet of Conflict and ControlChapter Seven: Bridging Groups: Extending the Local Chapter Eight: Better Sociology:  A Call to Small ArmsReferences

“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.”Michèle 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