Fieldwork in Political Theory: Five Arguments for an Ethnographic Sensibility

Herzog, Lisa; Zacka, Bernardo

doi:10.1017/s0007123416000703

Cited by 68 publications

(41 citation statements)

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“…Finally, both lines could be connected to data on the reality and the perception of inequality, especially inherited inequality. In all cases, qualitative tools could help to better understand whether individuals’ perceptions might be ideologically distorted, and if so, how the distortions came about (see also Herzog and Zacka 2017 on the relation between qualitative research and normative analysis).…”

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confidence: 99%

Durkheim on Social Justice: The Argument from “Organic Solidarity”

Herzog

2017

Am Polit Sci Rev

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This article reintroduces a long-forgotten argument into the debate about social justice: Durkheim's argument from “organic solidarity,” as presented inThe Division of Labor in Society. “Organic solidarity” is solidarity based on differentiation. According to Durkheim, it grows out of the division of labor, but only if the latter happens “spontaneously.” Social inequality creates obstacles to such spontaneity because it distorts prices, such that they are perceived as unjust, and it undermines equality of opportunity. Hence, Durkheim's argument connects commutative justice and distributive justice. The article argues that Durkheim's argument is plausible, interesting, and relevant for today. After presenting the argument, discussing its structure and methodology, and evaluating its plausibility by drawing on related contemporary debates, it focuses on the problem of theperceptionof social justice and the possibility of ideological distortions. It concludes by sketching the research program that follows from Durkheim's argument.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Durkheim on Social Justice: The Argument from “Organic Solidarity”

Herzog

2017

Am Polit Sci Rev

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“…Our proposal for climate ethics builds on one strand of that work. We argue that climate ethics should be informed by fieldwork that is done with an 'ethnographic sensibility' (Herzog and Zacka 2017). This kind of fieldwork can produce the broad range of detailed narrative accounts of real-life contexts that we need as intuition pumps to improve our understanding of personal climate responsibilities.…”

Section: Beyond Hypothetical Cases: Climate Ethics With An Ethnographmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate Ethics with an Ethnographic Sensibility

Bell

Swaffield

Peeters

2019

J Agric Environ Ethics

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“…For more detailed discussions of ethnography in political science, seeYanow and Schwartz-Shea (2006) andSchatz (2009). 2 For a discussion of what normative political theorists might gain from ethnography, seeHerzog and Zacka (2019).…”

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“… 2 For a discussion of what normative political theorists might gain from ethnography, see Herzog and Zacka (2019). …”

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Political Theory in an Ethnographic Key

Longo

Zacka

2019

Am Polit Sci Rev

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Should political theorists engage in ethnography? In this letter, we assess a recent wave of interest in ethnography among political theorists and explain why it is a good thing. We focus, in particular, on how ethnographic research generates what Ian Shapiro calls “problematizing redescriptions”—accounts of political phenomena that destabilize the lens through which we traditionally study them, engendering novel questions and exposing new avenues of moral concern. We argue that (1) by revealing new levels of variation and contingency within familiar political phenomena, ethnography can uncover topics ripe for normative inquiry; (2) by shedding light on what meanings people associate with political values, it can advance our reflection on concepts; and (3) by capturing the experience of individuals at grips with the social world, it can attune us to forms of harm that would otherwise remain hidden. The purchase for political theory is considerable. By thickening our understanding of institutions, ethnography serves as an antidote to analytic specialization and broadens the range of questions political theorists can ask, reinvigorating debates in the subfield and forging connections with the discipline writ large.

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Fieldwork in Political Theory: Five Arguments for an Ethnographic Sensibility

Cited by 68 publications

References 50 publications

Durkheim on Social Justice: The Argument from “Organic Solidarity”

Durkheim on Social Justice: The Argument from “Organic Solidarity”

Climate Ethics with an Ethnographic Sensibility

Political Theory in an Ethnographic Key

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