Customer Reviews

Face to Face: Toward a Sociological Theory of Interpersonal Behavior

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Jon's woven theoretical carpet of social face to face interaction is a fascininating one and like a persian carpet rolls over in spreading just to show the amazing diversity in human face to face interaction with variable depth and meaning in explusion despite all being confined and wrapped within the specific boundaries of a fully flattened out carpt. In other words, Jon successfully identifies the structure and meta order hidden in an apparenetly lawlesss and chaotic face to face interaction. Te ost exciting part of Jon's theory is that he shows how in fact new and innovative forms of social face to face interaction can be created by crossing the mini boundaries --in spill over-- of the communion of human itteraction without ever disrupting the general and lawful framework of order that encompasses them all in the utter edges of its totality. From this wonderful analysis Jon comes to develop a series of law like principles and boundaries governing human interactions yet he shows that they are flexible enough to be over written and crossed over without violating the general forces of social governance that themselves from outer edge of social totalty defines and shapes these human interactions that on the surface their boundaries aconstantly can be violated for innovation and freshness.

From his analysis oen can learn this principle among others: that the boudaries of social order at the micro level are more permeable for the development of genuine social revolution with border crossing than the macro level of social order and that to overthrow by crossing the macro boudaires for sical innovation is like to cut the persian carpet into pieces for the sake of an over arching social change from sky withut ever knowing how living beings survive on the planet down the earth on a daily basis.

This book is a welcome departure from the typical macro structuralism that has pervaded much of Jonathan's work and analysis in the past. The author takes the microscopic elements of social interaction of face to face encounter and weave a wonderful tapestry of a dialgue as if two separate civilization in their first round of encontour are about to make MOzart's magic flute in collaboration as a prelude to become aware of one another's inner thought process. This theoretical departure allows the author to appreciate the flexible and impregnable boundaries of face to face interaction in order to understand how an enduring social change is possible without its typical spill over mess beyond and above its structural framework. Jonathan in his masterful craft of micro-anaysis shows how to pull off the table cloth with all the object intact remaining on the table and then in the second round to put the table cloth back where it was in the first place as if nothing as ever happened before until party feast has begun. With such permeable boundaries only present at the micro level of social interaction, one literally begins to understand how on earth it is possible to light up the whole city in glow with the light of only one candle.

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