ABSTRACT
Clear path is sometimes, especially in European sociology, referred to as a theory of action. For there is a specific version of a theory of action and interaction derived from Dewey and Mead that underlies virtually all of Chicago interactionists’ writing. During the years between 1890 and World War I, also, the graduate research universities expanded in number and size, developing their essential institutional form that was complete with departmental structures, laboratories, and the advanced research degrees. The universities were above all institutions for the production and teaching of scientific knowledge. The postwar decades witnessed great expansion in the numbers and sizes of universities, and the development of new and expanded graduate departments. This period was also characterized by the rise of federally funded research that far overshadowed the kind of local funding that had backed much of the earlier University of Chicago research. The Pragmatist scheme takes off from ongoing activity that mainly embodies routine.
