ABSTRACT
At the level of face-to-face encounters, social structure impinges on individuals via the micro-dynamic forces of status, roles, ecology, and demography (see Table 3.1). Individuals generally occupy status positions that carry varying levels of resources, such as power and prestige; and by virtue of status and the resources associated with status, people seek to play particular roles; and, conversely, individuals seek to claim or affirm status through rolemaking efforts. Encounters are also driven by ecological forces revolving around the physical space, partitions, and props available as well as by the demography of space concerning the number of persons co-present, their memberships in categoric units, and their movements in and out of the encounter. Much of the effect of corporate and categoric units on the dynamics of encounters thus revolves around how these meso-level units structure (1) the vertical and horizontal divisions of labor as these affect status and role dynamics, (2) the amount and configuration of space as well as the props available to individuals, and (3) the number and nature of the people present as well as their movements in space. As might be expected, a considerable amount of sociological research and theorizing has been conducted on these micro-dynamic forces, particularly status, but surprisingly little work has been done on how the corporate and categoric units in which encounters are embedded determine the nature of status, roles, ecology, and demography. Similarly, comparatively little research and theory exists on how institutional domains and stratification systems exert effects on micro encounters via corporate and categoric units.
