ABSTRACT
The social act as seen by symbolic interactionists is a continuous process of defining the situation, with each definition evolving, in large part, out of antecedent definitions. In effect, the act becomes a continuous series of contingencies. Once a choice has been made, there may be a commitment to it which will determine most of the steps in a future course of action. Professor Korn-hauser here analyzes the process of forming a commitment and adhering to it among political liberals and radicals. Although real differences are pointed out between the radical and liberal self-commitments, attention should be drawn to the even greater contrast with the industrial workers’ lack of commitment to work, as portrayed by Dubin in Chapter 13. For the radical, “work” is politics, and it is clearly his “central life interest.”
