Als je de maatschappij binnenstebuiten keert, waar zit haar rafelrand dan? Bedenkingen tegen de weghap-antropologie van Bovenkerk en Brunt

Samenvatting

In Binnenstebuiten en ondersteboven: De antropologie van de industriele samenleving ([Inside Out and Upside Down: The Anthropology of the Industrial Society], Assen, Amsterdam, 1976) F. Bovenkerk & L. Brunt advocate a new specialization: the anthropology of industrial society, whose main analytical tool is the concept of the ragged fringe. The definitional status of this concept is extremely shaky & any new specialization based on even an improved version of this concept would inevitably conceal rather than reveal the fundamental structure of industrial society. Bovenkerk's & Brunt's approach denies social science insights already attained. They relegate their study of microdescription of peripheral actions of the urban population conceived as quasi-tribal groups & remain aloof from aspects of industrial society that, from the viewpoint of a more radical commitment, would be considered crucial. In Nogmaals Binnenstebuiten en Ondersteboven: repliek (Inside Out and Upside Down Again: A Reply) Frank Bovenkerk & Lodewijk Brunt argue that one of the greatest theoretical problems urban ethnographers have to face is the relationship between concrete situations & the wider social context. The suggestion that one should start from a given social theory to explain findings is rejected as an absolutistic device which leaves no room for the insider's perspective, ie, how people themselves experience their lives. Modified HA.