The volume is the first one in the series Studies in Sociology: Symbols, Theory and Society. The authors from Australia, Finland, Germany, Poland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, who contributed to it, are sociologists bound by a conviction that the study of the social context of making use of symbols cannot be underestimated. Conception of symbolism as a social phenomenon and not an autonomous semiotic system is of their common interest and a symbolic interactionist perspective is apparent in many texts. The readiness to trespass the boundaries of various approaches and disciplines is noticeable. The volume is divided into three parts: Symbols and Society. Theoretical Perspectives; Political Discourse and Symbolic Action; Religious Symbolism and Power. Symbolism of discourses, symbolic objects and symbolic actions are three intrinsically related domains that were studied.