Participants from Couch-Stone Symposium 2014 have contributed to this volume on three themes; reflecting a natural progression in scope of symbolic interactionist work in music: moving from observations of the individual to observation of organizations and interdisciplinary observations of music from scholars in related disciplines.

Addressing a perceived gap between symbolic interaction and ethno musicological approaches to the study of music, this special issue seeks to bring the fields closer by highlighting some of the complementary theoretical constructs of phenomenology and symbolic interaction as they relate to music studies.

Volume 53 of Studies in Symbolic Interaction is divided into three parts, providing contemporary readings of social situations, including interpreting translational science, an analysis of the ‘Phantasmal in Qualitative Research’ and ‘Miami’s Sea-level Rise Committee’.

Highlighting fruitful accomplishments achieved by a range of symbolic interactionists, this volume exhibits the significance of studying inequality, a venture that not only enriches symbolic interactionism but human life as a whole.

Norman K. Denzin has gathered a team of leading experts to explore and showcase a variety of topics in the field of symbolic interaction.Some of the topics explored include extending dramaturgical and grounded theory, and new empirical and theoretical inquiries into fashion, journalism, stigma, police body work, autobiography, and gender studies.

This vibrant volume is a creative mix of contributions, including seminal essays and interpretive works, from researchers and writers in the area of popular music and major players in the bright future of symbolic interaction. Genres discussed range from country, jazz and the virtuoso to latino, grindcore and extreme metal.

Highlighting the significance of Maines’ works in symbolic interactionism, Volume 57 of Studies in Symbolic Interaction documents his most celebrated areas of scholarship, including social structure, narrative sociology, social interaction, dialectic perspective, temporality, and mesostructure.