Customer Reviews

The Classical Roots of Ethnomethodology: Durkheim, Weber, and Garfinkel

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In this well-written and important book, Hilbert demonstrates how key themes in classical social theory were lost or 'inverted' by Talcott Parsons. Hilbert goes on to show how Garfinkel's 'Studies in Ethnomethodology' (1967), and related work by other early ethnomethodologists generated a body of knowledge regarding actual social practices that stood Parsons on his head, thereby unintentionally 'recovering' some of the key insights lost to American Sociology through Parson's interpretation of Durkheim and Weber. A thought-provoking book whose insights can fuel further empirical work explicating the actual processes of the social world.

In this well-written and important book, Hilbert demonstrates how key themes in classical social theory were lost or 'inverted' by Talcott Parsons. Hilbert goes on to show how Garfinkel's 'Studies in Ethnomethodology' (1967), and related work by other early ethnomethodologists generated a body of knowledge regarding actual social practices that stood Parsons on his head, thereby unintentionally 'recovering' some of the key insights lost to American Sociology through Parson's interpretation of Durkheim and Weber. A thought-provoking book whose insights can fuel further empirical work explicating the actual processes of the social world.

I took classes from Prof. Hilbert in College. He is incredibly brilliant. If you can pick up just two or three main points from this book, it will be worth every penny you spent. One of the top 5 books ever written. If you like sociology and want to have your world rocked, pick this up.