Call for Manuscripts:

Play, Games, and Sociality
For the journal Studies in Symbolic Interaction
Journal: https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/book-series/studies-symbolic-interaction
Posted on the Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR) e-list on June 25, 2026

Deadline for submission of abstracts: September 1, 2026

G.H. Mead discussed his well-known versions of play and the game in the context of development, as necessary activities regarding the pragmatic and empathic orientations of the self to others. However, his notion of sociality, which delves into the temporal connection between past, present, and future, is connected to the importance of emergence and novelty. Implicitly, Mead’s notion of sociality accentuates the importance of play and games as processes that “break on through” the present, creating serendipitous futures and transforming stale versions of the past.

In effect, play and games are neither confined to a linear development of role-taking abilities nor events that occur apart from the everyday experiential realities that make up our life courses. Rather, play and games not only become useful activities that contribute to self-awareness and awareness of others, but also serve as foundational activities connected to shared pasts, shared futures, and varieties of shared foci.

Volume 67 of Studies in Symbolic Interaction, edited by Michael Katovich, invites manuscripts that explore how human interaction is initiated, maintained, and transformed through playful dynamics. By linking classical foundations with contemporary digital and physical playgrounds, this volume aims to map the evolving landscapes of modern sociality. In light of the aforementioned foci, we invite submissions that build upon the following insights contributing to our understanding of play, games, and sociality. Some potential examples would include, but are not limited to, the following topics:

• Play and games as cooperatively governed and separate from everyday lived experience
• Play as safely disruptive and potentially constructive
• Play and games as localized systems of shared storytelling
• The professionalization of play
• Play and games linked to contemporary technology and various ways of experiencing selves
• Play as created by and through identification with subcultural games and experiences
• Playful foundations of the self
• Play and games as linked to socialization

For all interested, please send an abstract of no more than 750 words to Shing-Ling Sarina Chen (sarina.chen@uni.edu) by September 1, 2026.

If an abstract is selected for inclusion, the deadline of completing the manuscript is May 1, 2027.

Studies in Symbolic Interaction is a peer-reviewed bi-annual global book series published by Wiley Publishing.

Thank you very much for your consideration. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Shing-Ling Sarina Chen
Studies in Symbolic Interaction