Symbolic Interactionist Perspective of the

¶ … symbolic interactionist perspective of the Sidewalk of New York's Greenwich Village booksellers See the men on the sidewalks, selling books. Most passers by simply regard this as an unsavory aspect of local culture, a way that homeless people make a living. But to the sociologist Michael Duneier, this is a vibrant and vital aspect of local culture. The individuals, most of whom formerly drug dealers, make use of the first amendment's allowance to freely purvey printed material.

But they also function as counselors and mentors for many of the dissolute and desperate young men of the neighborhood, particularly one man named Hasan, who can cross reference different texts, chapter and verse, that the young sociologist is studying. Throughout his text, Michael Duneier reaffirms the value of symbolic interactionism, showing a sensitive portrayal of these usually black men who live on the margins of society, yet communicate and construct a subculture on the streets through the sidewalk life of selling books.

The sociologist Duneier must be commended as not existing as a mere observer to this sidewalk culture -- he became a functional part of it and achieved a level of acceptance, though his participation. He was not initially fluent in the symbolic language of these reformed drug dealers in his "religion (I am Jewish and most of them are Muslim or Christian), level of education (I hold a Ph.D.

In sociology and attended two years of law school, whereas some of them did not graduate from high school), and occupation (Duneier, 1999, p. 6). Yet after becoming friendly with Hasan, albeit one of the few street book sellers who was neither homeless nor an addict Duneier gradually gained a point of entry into this life and began to get know most of the street's other vendors. Duneier, over the course of his experiences, becomes aware of a society of many symbolic layers of interaction and hierarchies.

For instance, in addition to the most respected booksellers like Hasan, there are also scavengers, illegally dumpster diving through recycling bins searching out recent issues of desirable titles to sell like Wired, and Playboy, and catalogues from L.L. Bean and Lands' End, Victoria's Secret, Christie's and Sotheby's, as well as used books." (Duneier, 1991, p.30) According to the first chapter of Sociology: the Core by Michael Hughes and Carolyn J.

Kroehler, symbolic interactionists like Duneier contend that society is possible because human beings have the ability to communicate with one another by means of symbols. They say that we act toward people, objects, and events on the basis of the meanings we impart to them. Symbolically, the books confer more status on Hasan, while the magazines are less prestigious. The 'lowest' sellers are the men who sometimes panhandle and sell illegally 'lifted' items.

And all of the vendors have those in their service, such as the table watchers, placeholders who save the vendor's spots overnight on the street, the movers who transport the books and the all important storage providers who can store the printed material in safe areas in tunnels and subways. Overall, Duneier concedes that the society depicted is not shown without blemishes. It is all male and frequently misogynist in the harassment of female customers and neighborhood residents as when "two white.