Social Interaction: Game, Gift, Green Room
S06
Ronald Cohen
Whether between two people, or among several in a gathering or a small group, people usually manage to coordinate their activity with others. The rules that underlie, create, and maintain orderliness and permit people to carry on their activities are usually out of immediate, conscious awareness, and their existence is recognized only when they are violated. We will examine social interaction and the rules that govern it. Among the perspectives developed for this purpose are interaction as game, gift exchange, and theater. We will examine game theory as originally developed by economists and explore its relevance in contemporary research on the prisoners’ dilemma, commons dilemma, and other social dilemmas. We’ll then examine exchange theory, originally developed by economists and anthropologists, and apply it to contemporary work on such topics as gift-giving and revenge. Finally, we will examine some examples of dramaturgical approaches to interaction, primarily work by Erving Goffman.