Ethnomethodology and the Grateful Dead phenomenon

The Grateful Dead is a phenomenon that, by its very nature, challenges the deepest assumptions upon which contemporary' sociological theory is based. To tnose unfamiliar with the kind of experiences indigenous to the Grateful Dead concert setting, the rationale for such a statement may seem obscure, yet as the existence of the startling subculture surrounding the Grateful Dead would indicate, there is something unique and different about this particular social setting. As Joseph Kotarba (1984) has observed, there is a renewed interest within the discipline of sociology today toward the concept of self. This interest reflects a more experientially based perspective, in which researchers are "seeking to understand the actual experience of both social life and individuality." [...]