Reflexivity at Work: Making Sense of Mannheim's, Garfinkel's, Gouldner's
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Reflexivity at Work: Making Sense of Mannheim’s, Garfinkel’s, Gouldner’s, and Bourdieu’s Sociology by Christian Olivier Caron A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology Carleton University Ottawa, Canada ©2013 Christian Olivier Caron Library and Archives Bibliotheque et Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du 1+1 Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-94525-4 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-94525-4 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distrbute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. 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Canada Abstract Various uses of the concept and practice of reflexivity are widespread within contemporary sociological literature. Much of the writing about reflexivity is about the very nature of sociology as a discipline, how it ought to be practiced, and what kind of goals it ought to pursue. This dissertation investigates the link between reflexivity and the what, how and why of Karl Mannheim’s sociology of knowledge, Harold Garfmkel’s ethnomethodology, Alvin Gouldner’s reflexive sociology, and Pierre Bourdieu’s reflexive sociology. This dissertation puts reflexivity to work by using it as a lens to ‘make sense’ of their sociology. It does so by constructing thematic accounts around the history, nature and role of reflexivity within each of their respective sociologies. Several common themes emerge from this in-depth engagement with their work: these authors were all concerned, not only with the nature of the discipline, but also sought to reform it in particular ways; their sociology displayed historical and philosophical sensibilities; they all wrote about the constitutive nature of language and to a certain extent the role of education; they all discussed the role that must be played by sociologists themselves; and all of them offered a clear vision of what goals sociology ought to pursue. These insights are then brought together for the purposes of promoting a concept-practice of reflexivity as humility whose end goal is a responsible, productive, and value-committed sociology. Acknowledgements The work for this dissertation spanned a decade, although the seeds for it are much older. I want not only to acknowledge, but also to deeply and sincerely thank a host of individuals, without whose support and encouragement this would not have taken place. Thank you... A ma famille, Diane et Denis, qui m’ont guide sur le chemin de Teducation. To Gail, who heard my voice despite the broken English. To Lucia, who believed in me when that was not always warranted. She not only inspired me to turn to sociology, but also to make it a career. I owe her so much. To Tullio, whose generosity and counsel were instrumental in my development as an academic. To Jennifer and Juliette, whose support and comfort at different stages of this endeavor meant everything. To Tara, Paul, Susan, Charlie, Tamy, and Holly for their uncompromising friendship through all these years. To the many authors whose words I spent so much time with and whose influence is incalculable. To my colleagues who helped to make the Sociology department at Carleton my home for twelve years. To Kim, Paula, Karen, and Marlene who are the heart of the department and whose friendliness should never be taken for granted. To my students whose interest and engagement was the main fuel through these years. To Jennifer and Jim who reviewed this document and offered insightful comments To Andrea, who was always encouraging and supportive of this project. To Aaron, whose support through the years has been invaluable, both in terms of the production of this document as well as in being so invested in my teaching specifically and in my future more broadly. To Bruce, and not Prof. Curtis, at last, who believed in me and pushed me to become a better academic. I always felt his advice had my best interests at heart, even in those moments when I was unwilling or not ready to take it. He allowed me to do it ‘my way’, and in bringing this dissertation to a close, and looking for a permanent position, he was everything one would want of a supervisor. To Gerald, who, more than any other, was the sounding board within which the narrative of this dissertation emerged. This would be an entirely different document without his keen mind, his sarcastic sense of humor, and his invaluable advice. To Jen, who was my ‘office wife’ for almost a decade, with whom I have had more hours of conversations about sociology, teaching, and Teddy than perhaps everyone else combined. I did not hold up my end of the bargain by finishing a year late, robbing us of graduating together, but she will forever be the key friend and colleague of my PhD years from whom I have learned so much. Finally, to Jordan, whose copy editing of every word of this dissertation is only the more recent of her contributions. She was comforting when I was stressed, patient when I was frustrated, encouraging when I was down. She gracefully endured the late nights, the lack of weekends, the lack of vacation, the lack of attention. She is more than I deserve and had the right to expect. She is my present and my future. iii Table of Contents Abstract..................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................. iii Table of Contents .....................................................................................................................iv Introduction................................................................................................................................1 Literature Review: Reflexivity at a Glance ...........................................................................16 Mannheim’s Sociology of Knowledge ..................................................................................31 Garfmkel’s Ethnomethodology ............................................................................................107 Gouldner’s Reflexive Sociology ..........................................................................................185 Bourdieu’s Reflexive Sociology ......................................................................................... 232 Discussion: Building a Sociological Practice .................................................................... 289 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................325 Bibliography .........................................................................................................................332 For serenity Introduction My dissertation puts reflexivity to work by using it as a lens to ‘make sense’ of Mannheim’s, Garfinkel’s, Gouldner’s and Bourdieu’s sociology. It does so by constructing thematic accounts around the history, nature, and role of reflexivity within each of these authors’ sociology. My dissertation then brings together insights from these accounts about the nature of sociology, epistemology and ontology, language, the theory- practice divide, and the ultimate goals of sociology, for the purposes of promoting a concept-practice of reflexivity as humility, whose end goal is a responsible, productive, and progressive-oriented sociology. While reflexivity was first coined as a new term for introspection and self- awareness in the 1640s (Tauber 2005), its popularity has grown only recently. The concept-practice of reflexivity is now widespread within contemporary sociological literature. According to the database Sociological Abstracts, between 1972 and 1985 anywhere from one to nine articles were published annually with the term reflexivity in either the title or abstract. This number