Interaction in everyday life: phenomenological and ethnomethodological essays in honor of George Psathas

Phenomenological sociology and ethnomethodology have many adherents and practitioners throughout the world. The international character of interest in these two areas is exemplified by the papers in this book, which come from scholars in Canada, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, and the United States. They exemplify the kinds of theoretical and research issues that arise in seeking to explore the social world in ways that respect what Edmund Husserl referred to as “the original right” of all data.
The papers were inspired in various ways by the work of George Psathas, Professor Emeritus, Boston University, a renowned phenomenological sociologist and ethnomethodologist and a fundamental contributor to phenomenological sociology and ethnomethodology movements both in the United States and throughout the world. The collection consists of three parts: Phenomenology Sociology as an Intellectual Movement, Phenomenological Considerations, and Ethnomethodological Explorations, reflecting areas to which Professor Psathas has made significant contributions.
A phenomenological sociology movement in the US is examined as an intellectual movement in itself and as it is influenced by a leader’s participation both as scholar and as teacher. Phenomenological sociology’s efficacy and potential are discussed in terms of a broad range of theoretical and empirical issues: methodology, similarities and differences between phenomenological sociology and ethnomethodology, embodied sociality, power, trust, friendship, face-to-face interaction, and interactions between children and adults.Theoretical articles addressing fundamental features of ethnomethodology, its development, and its relation to process-relational philosophy are balanced by empirical articles founded on authors’ original ethnomethodological research—activities of direction-giving and direction-following, accounts for organizational deviance, garden lessons, doing being friends, and the crafting of musical time.
Through these papers readers can come to understand the theoretical development of phenomenological sociology and ethnomethodology, appreciate their achievements and their promise, and find inspiration to pursue their own work in phenomenological sociology and ethnomethodology.