The Local Surfer - University of Exeter

confirmed the least in Beaumont (2007) and was seen as being more actively
involved in the commercial world of surfing than first thought. Sponsored
surfers went beyond their sponsorship and were involved in many business
opportunities exploiting themselves and their surfing knowledge for money. It
is hoped that because so little is known about the Sponsored surfer, that this
study will be able to confirm its existence and provide further grounding on
this type and the Wannabe and the Soul surfer in order to pave the way for
future research studies concerning these ideal types.
Symbolic Interactionism
A range of issues will be addressed by using the symbolic interactionist
perspective which focuses on issues related to meaning, identity, social
relationships and most importantly, subcultures in sport (Coakley, 2001).
According to Plummer (2000:195), “there are now a number of accounts of the
history of symbolic interactionism and it has proved to be contested ground”.
Plummer goes onto note that in undergraduate sociology George Herbert Mead
is credited for laying the foundations for symbolic interactionism while Herbert
Blumer coined the term (Haralambos and Holborn, 1991). Plummer puts
forward that for some the founder is Robert Park (Strauss and Fisher, 1978 cited
in Plummer, 2000) and for others taking a more general view it is the Chicago
School (Joas, 1987 cited in Plummer, 2000). However it is the work by Mead
and Blumer that is long credited with the beginnings of symbolic interactionism
and it is their work that is focused on here. As Plummer (2000:197) notes, “Any
attempt to produce a history of symbolic interactionism in the twentieth
century must hence of necessity be partial and selective”.
Many sociologists believe that Mead is responsible for laying the foundation of
the symbolic interactionist perspective. This occurred over forty years whilst in
post as a philosopher at the University of Chicago where he taught his theory;
social behaviourism (Manis and Meltzer, 1978). Mead believed that;
the self is something which has a development; it is not initially there
at birth but arises in the process of social experience and activity, that
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