Solitary Action

A work of exceptional grace and clarity, Solitary Action single-handedly revives a promising approach to the theory of action. Cohen demonstrates that the iterated, contextual reflexivity often held to be specifically social is in fact inherent in solitary action as well. Few works combine the phenomenological insight of a Garfinkel with the careful and lucid analysis of a Giddens. A must-read for those interested in sociological theory or the theory of action. - John Levi Martin, author of The Explanation of Social Action Though it may sound oxymoronic, for the first time we have a true sociology of solitary action. Drawing on a myriad of examples ranging from reading, jogging, and assembling a jigsaw puzzle to knitting, surfing the web, and writing a book on solitary action, Cohen invites us to view them as unmistakably social rather than simply individual acts. Using activities rather than people or institutions as his units of analysis, he provides a close, detailed look at both the forms and elements of solitary action. A most welcome contribution to the sociology of everyday life! - Eviatar Zerubavel, author of Hidden in Plain Sight This is a quirky book with some really great insights into how sociologists can think about and analyze the things people do when they are by themselves. Ira Cohen is absolutely right that sociologists' mental models of human behavior always involve them in interaction with others when, in reality, most people spend a huge chunk of their time by themselves. - Stephen Vaisey, Associate Professor of Sociology, Duke University