The Ethnographic Imagination

Beschreibung

In this book Paul Willis, a renowned sociologist and ethnographer,aims to renew and develop the ethnographic craft across thedisciplines. Drawing from numerous examples of his own past andcurrent work, he shows that ethnographic practice and theethnographic imagination are vital to understanding the creativityand irreducibility of experience in all aspects of social andcultural practice. Willis argues that ethnography plays a vital role inconstituting 'sensuousness' in textual, methodological, andsubstantive ways, but it can do this only through the deployment ofan associated theoretical imagination which cannot be found simplythere in the field. He presents a bold and incisiveethnographically oriented view of the world, emphasizing the needfor a deep-running social but also aesthetic sensibility. In doingso he brings new insights to the understanding of human action andits dialectical relation to social and symbolic structures. Hemakes original contributions to the understanding of thecontemporary human uses of objects, artefacts and communicativeforms, presenting a new analysis of commodity fetishism as centralto consumption and to the wider social relations of contemporarysocieties. He also utilizes his perspective to further theunderstanding of the contemporary crisis in masculinity and to castnew light on various lived everyday cultures - at school, on thedole, on the street, in the Mall, in front of TV, in the danceclub. This book will be essential reading for all those involved inplanning or contemplating ethnographic fieldwork and for thoseinterested in the contributions it can make to the social sciencesand humanities.

Autor*in

Paul Willis

Themen in »The Ethnographic Imagination«

Anthropological Theory & Methods/Ethnography Anthropologie Anthropologie / Theorie u. Methoden, Ethnographie Anthropology Gesellschaftstheorie Research Methodologies Social Theory Sociology Soziologie Soziologische Forschungsmethoden

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"Willis is at his best in this book when he turns to the data fromhis 30 years of ethnographic experience. He makes frequestreference to his observations in both Learning to Labor andthe 1990, Common Culture, so that readers not yet acquaintedwith these works will not be at a disadvantage. Indeed, hisobservations are often so insightful that even those who have readone or both books might be tempted to take them up again."Methodology and Research Techniques "Willis' book is an intriguing attempt to pose questions aboutdoing ethnography in our post-industrial 'leisure societies' ... itpresents some genuinely interesting insights and ethnographicvignettes." Discourse & Society
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