Between a Combinative Perspective and Self-Contained Practice: A Critical Review of Ethnomethodology

Abstract

Ethnomethodology (EM) brought a new vision to social studies by putting the construction of social reality through everyday life and practices of the members of society at the center and questioning what is taken granted conventionally in social research. However, it is doubtful if EM possesses a systematic and comprehensive approach to explain the social world extensively as a fully-fledged practice or framework of analysis. Moreover, it shows a very fragmented structure regarding the studies in the field. Based on these aspects, this article problematizes the extent of EM’s contribution to social analysis. The argument of this work is that it is not suitable to be considered a separate framework of social analysis due to the drawbacks mentioned; nevertheless it has a significant potential to contribute to the examination of social reality if it is integrated into the theoretical and/or methodological frameworks of social analyses as a perspective. The argument is defended through critical reading of the primary and secondary sources which deals with EM theoretically and also discussing some studies which can be regarded as its applications in social research.