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Ethnomethodology. “The other white meat.”. Harold Garfinkel. Functionalist!. Talcott Parsons. “ Parsonian Functionalism”. Major theoretical perspective in mid-20 th century Attempts to explain how societies maintain stability and order
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Ethnomethodology “The other white meat.”
Functionalist! Talcott Parsons
“Parsonian Functionalism” • Major theoretical perspective in mid-20th century • Attempts to explain how societies maintain stability and order • Focuses on roles of social institutions, and how they maintain social stability • People have internalized rules and norms, that’s why we see orderly behavior • If behaviors exist, they are there because they serve a function maintaining order
When a scientist looks through “functionalist lenses,” she sees:Objective, pre-existing social forces(such as norms) Cause/produce An orderly society
Any sociological theory used to explain social phenomenais a top-down approach to sociology.
Harold Garfinkel had some problems with top-down approaches.
Garfinkel Said: • Functionalism assumes that only people with the correct theoretical lenses can make sense of society • Ordinary people do see the world as orderly; as a sensical place • Parsons was ignoring all the work that ordinary people do every day to make sense of the world
Garfinkel Said: • Everyone has procedures they use to make sense of the world, and • PEOPLE ACHIEVE THE ORDER OF THE SOCIAL WORLD!
Ethnomethodology • Ethno = members • Methodology = methods • Members’ methods for achieving social order
The appearance of an orderly society (and the very reality/objectivity of the social world) People’s sense-making activities and procedures Produce/achieve
So while top-downsociological approaches ask:Why is the social world the way it is?What are the social forces at work?
The bottom-upsociological approach asks:How do we achieve a social world that seems objectiveand pre-existing?
These are fundamentally different questions, seeking different answers.Both, top-down and bottom-up, are valid and useful approaches to sociology.
Gender • In a top-down approach, a sociologist might ask: “Why don’t males cry as often as females?” Gender roles (males are taught not to show emotions) Affect Behavior (males don’t cry as often as females)
Gender • In a bottom-up approach, an ethnomethodologist might ask: How is the reality of gendered behavior produced? The reality of “gendered behavior” Produce/achieve People’s sense-making activities/procedures (what we do)
