Professions as Closed-Networks: Mississippi River Pilots and Mead's Conceptualization of the Mind

Abstract

This is a modified version of the 2022 George Herbert Mead Lecture that I delivered at the Annual Meeting of the National Communications Association in New Orleans, LA. Drawing upon ethnographic research with Mississippi River pilots, I outline the strengths and weaknesses of Mead's conceptualization of “mind” as a means to develop the “great cooperative community” he envisioned. I argue that although we possess the cognitive capacity to take the attitude of a multitude of others, even during complex and evolving scenarios, there are also material incentives for some groups to impede the emergence of the mind via the construction of “closed-networks.” I identify one example of a closed-network – professional associations – to demonstrate how and why they attempt to prevent outsiders from role-taking with members of their group. Although the persistence of closed networks hampers Mead's vision of a more co-operative society, it is only by understanding the origins of such barriers to mind that we can address the root causes of their construction.

Citation

Kolb, K.H. (2023), "Professions as Closed-Networks: Mississippi River Pilots and Mead's Conceptualization of the Mind", Chen, S.-L.S. (Ed.) Festschrift in Honor of David R. Maines (Studies in Symbolic Interaction, Vol. 57), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 117-128. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0163-239620230000057016