This book is an attempt to create a theoretical vocabulary for those who believe that the sociology of industrial organizations should concern itself with discovering the ways in which people in industry define their life-position and with examining the collective and organizational consequences of these views which they hold of themselves. Using the device of treating industry as an alien subculture, with its own beliefs and patterns of meaning, the book reviews the nature of meaning in such a subculture, considering both ritual and language as ways of communicating meaning. From this base it is then possible to consider the place of socialization, of norms, and of social definitions in the industrial subculture. This leads on to an examination of the ideas of "occupational role" and "organizational identity", and of the ways in which the industrial hierarchy is perpetuated. The book makes it clear that a study of industrial meaning systems is central to the further development of industrial sociology, and suggests that such a study would best be tackled by the adoption of a phenomenological approach. (Author)