We have already seen how sociological schools aimed at analyzing and solving specific problems, such as clinical sociology , emerged in the United States , thanks in part to the multiethnic composition that has characterized the North American continent. Harold Garfinkel 's contribution also fits into this perspective , establishing a set of theories and methods of analysis called ethnomethodology in the mid-20th century . "Ethno" indicates the importance attributed to the component of cultural identity , which does not refer exclusively to the geographical origin and citizenship of immigrants, but rather to belonging to sectors, areas, or groups whose members share values, behavioral, cultural, and semantic patterns.
A new sociology
Garfinkel's education was influenced by the structuralism di Talcott Parsons and phenomenology, especially in its sociological version by Alfred Schütz. The latter in particular provides the essential elements of a new sociology far from the descriptions of the quantitivists but never reduced to methodological individualism, more attentive to theinteraction, communication and socio-cultural contextIn the words of Harold Garfinkel, ethnomethodology is described as the branch of behavioral science that “seeks to regard practical activities, practical circumstances, and practical sociological reasoning as subjects of empirical investigation, and, by giving to the more ordinary activities of everyday life the attention generally accorded to extraordinary events, seeks to learn something about such activities as phenomena worthy of study in their own right.” (“What is ethnomethodology?” in Ethnomethodology of Giglioli and dal Lago, Ed. il Mulino. Bologna 1983).
Different meanings for the same statements
Ethnomethodology emphasizes the analysis of language and the meaning of communication, which must be analyzed based on the specific context to which the speaker belongs. Different contexts or groups attribute different meanings to identical statementsSocial actions, as communicative acts (cf. Max Weber and Talcott Parsons), must be analyzed according to the same scheme. From this perspective, the meaning of a phrase or a behavior is that shared by the same actor or subject (or member, in Garfinkel's language) with the community to which it belongs and cannot be interpreted in light of cultural and communicative models external to the community itself. Its members, therefore, observe themselves and each other by sharing the meaning of their actions/communications.The activities by which members of society produce and manage organized situations of daily relationships are identical to the processes used by members to make them accountable.“, observe Giglioli and dal Lago in their essay “Ethnomethodology” (op. cit.).
Indicativeness and reflexivity
Ethnomethodology responds to the criterion of indifference (indifference): like evaluativeness, it prevents the social scientist from pre-structuring the analysis based on personal values or judgments, likely extraneous to the context under examination and which would hinder the work. Every action/communication responds to two fundamental requirements and must be interpreted accordingly: it makes sense based on the context and must be considered as such, and the context is the group of which the actor/communicator is a member. This requirement is called indicativeness (indexicality), a term derived from semiotics. Closely connected to it is the second requirement, the reflexivity (reflexivity), according to which actors/communicators attribute meaning to their actions or dialogues based on their being members and bearers of a specific interpretative horizon. Actions and messages cannot therefore be separated from their meaning and from the context understood as a set of meanings attributed to expressions and actions.
A current perspective
In order to uncover the underlying patterns and norms of language and action, Garfinkel devised destabilization experiments : during his courses, he would suddenly modify the language or perform actions and behaviors out of context. Through these "disruptive" operations, students grasped the meaning of ethnomethodology's assumptions. The dynamics and changes that the European continent and our entire planet are undergoing, with the phenomena of globalization , interactivity, and the many associated changes, make this perspective more relevant than ever. Its ability to grasp the meaning of communication from a sociological and anthropological perspective, its attention to specific contexts and modes of interaction, and its particular focus on individuals and groups understood as active beings capable of making sense, understanding, and expressing, moving freely and voluntarily but always and only in relation to the norms of the reference group.
Barbara Lattanzi
