ABSTRACT
The notion that social interaction is understandable in terms of the application of a game analogy is very old. Certainly, the idea that behaviour is in some respects subject to game-type structuring enters into a great deal of current theorizing and speculation in the social sciences. In social interaction, the rules of the game are presumably not invented by each new set of interactors; they are already there waiting for interaction. In a football game the rules are not alterable by the players – they are subject to the authority of the controlling rule-making body. Game theory is primarily premised on the notion of power relationships between large organizations or nation states – conflict is defined in terms of the way in which players can establish and maintain advantages at the expense of others. Goffman’s concern with calculable behaviour, which he conceives of as strategic interaction, is related to similar approaches in ‘bargaining’ and ‘exchange’ theory.
