Interaction Ritual

"Not then, men and their moments. Rather, moments and their men," writes Erving Goffman in the introduction to his groundbreaking 1967 Interaction Ritual, a study of face-to-face interaction in natural settings, that class of events which occurs during co-presence and by virtue of co-presence. The ultimate behavioral materials are the glances, gestures, positionings, and verbal statements that people continuously feed into situations, whether intended or not. This is an interesting account of daily social interaction viewed with a new perspective for the logic of our behavior in ordinary circumstances.

Erving Goffman was Benjamin Franklin Professor of Anthropology and Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania until his death in 1982. He is recognized as one of the world’s foremost social theorists and much of his work still remains in print. Among his classic books are The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, Interaction Ritual, Stigma, Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity, and Frame Analysis. Joel E. Best is professor at the department of sociology and criminal justice, University of Delaware. He is the author of numerous books, including Flavor of the Month: Why Smart People Fall for Fads; Deviance: Career of a Concept; and Random Violence: How We Talk about New Crimes and New Victims.