(Gary, can you forward this?)
to Bob Gossweiler on UNCJIN-L 930818
So far no one on CSG-L has answered your question, which I'm not
going to repeat here, about symbolic interactionism and
mechanical vs organic solidarity.
The main reason (aside from, in my case, having no idea what
you're talking about) is this:
A number of times people have come on the net with questions
based on the conceptual framework they have developed in another
field, and various people have worked hard to answer them - with
little success, primarily because the questioner has not learned
the basics of PCT and needs a tutorial from scratch. "A quick
read" suggests that this is the case with you. On the first of
every month I believe CSG-L presents introductory material and a
bibliography, since it is not the purpose of this net to go over
all this stuff again. We do welcome new people from new fields
but they've got to do some homework first and then ask questions.
PCT is a general model of the organization of living systems that
we believe offers a new viewpoint from which to approach problems
in all the behavioral, social and life sciences. However, that's
a large territory and those who are developing the theory can't
be expected to have expertise in every aspect of it. We encourage
you to give it a try. The operative word is you. If you take the
trouble to study PCT, and then look at Durkheim (who you probably
understand better than any of us) from this angle, you may come
up with all kinds of new and interesting understandings. We look
forward to hearing about them.
Mary Powers