De weerstand van het gevoel

Samenvatting

Sociological works that have served as personal inspirations are discussed, focusing on those that elucidated the relationship between individual desires and broad social structures. Alfred Schutz's work is deemed important for its methodological clarity, in which qualitative aspects and the observer's role are emphasized, and for its emphasis on the (cultural) contextualization of the researcher's actions and subject matter. Johan Niezing's (1962) dissertation on the social and societal function of sociology is also commended for its excellent analysis of methodological issues; his expositions on action research and other dynamic normative approaches are particularly enlightening. Hartmut von Hentig's essay, Terzake en democratisch ([To the Point and Democratic] 1968), in which the increasing gap between average citizens and competent specialists is addressed, is cited as an insightful analysis of the power that average people in social democracies can and should exert. Finally, the relationship between rationality and irrationality is addressed, presenting S. Mestrovic's (1991) work as an interesting example of new, more positive views on irrational aspects of behavior. S. Paul