HOWARD S. BECKER
Who is Howard S. Becker? This book traces his career, examining his work and contributions to the field of sociology. Themes covered include Beckers theoretical conceptualizations, approaches, teaching style, and positioning in the intellectual milieu. Translated from French by sociologist Robert Dingwall, the English edition benefits from an editorial introduction and additional referencing, as well as a new foreword by Becker himself.
Jean Peneff is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Aix-Marseille, France. He has played a leading role in introducing qualitative research methods to French sociology, pioneering the use of participant observation.
Robert Dingwall is a consulting sociologist and part-time professor of sociology at Nottingham Trent University, UK. He has written widely on law, medicine, science, and technology, focusing on professions, work, organizations and interaction, and on research methods and ethics.
Praise for this book
Howard Beckers long and distinguished career receives a welcome and engaging review. Peneffs book, in Dingwalls translation, more than does justice to Beckers clarity of thought and expression. The modesty of Beckers claims is matched only by the scale of his achievements. The reception of Beckers sociology in France is a particularly intriguing aspect of the book and of his contribution to sociological reasoning more widely.
Paul Atkinson, Cardiff University
Peneff suggests intriguing insights into the work of Howard Becker through his lens as a French sociologist. He encourages the reader to think more broadly and in depth about Beckers work and to question some of our assumptions about French sociology. Extensive quotes from Beckers interviews may be unfamiliar to many readers, further illuminating his contributions to sociology.
Ruth Horowitz, New York University
Peneff provides an original and comprehensive appreciation of Howard Beckers work conducted over more than 50 years examining the processes and interactions that mark everyday life in a variety of social worlds. An important study for qualitative researchers and for all those working in the spirit of classic Chicago sociology!
Bob Emerson, University of California, Los Angeles
HOWARD S. BECKER
Sociology and Music in the Chicago School
Jean Peneff
Translated by Robert Dingwall
English edition published 2018
by Routledge
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and by Routledge
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This English edition 2018 Taylor & Francis
Foreword 2018 Howard S. Becker
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
The rights of Robert Dingwall to be identified as the author of this translation, and Howard S. Becker as the author of the foreword, have been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
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First published in French by Editions LHarmattan 2014
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Peneff, Jean, author.
Title: Howard S. Becker : sociology and music in the Chicago School / Jean Peneff ; translated by Robert Dingwall.
Other titles: Howard S. Becker. English
Description: New York, NY : Routledge, 2018. | First published in French 2014: Howard S. Becker, Paris: Editions LHarmattan. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018007941 (print) | LCCN 2018009523 (ebook) | ISBN 9780429467752 (eBook) ISBN 9781629583143 (hardback : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781629583150 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780429467752 (ebook : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Becker, Howard Saul, 1928- | Chicago school of sociology. Sociology.
Classification: LCC HM479.B435 (ebook) | LCC HM479.B435 P46 2018 (print) | DDC 301--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018007941
ISBN: 978-1-62958-314-3 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-62958-315-0 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-46775-2 (ebk)
It is a great pleasure to introduce Jean Peneffs book about my intellectual career and adventures. I had already been in the business of sociology for many years when I met Jean. He was one of the members of the cole de Chicago de Paris, the other members being Jean-Pierre Briand, Henri Peretz, and Jean-Michel Chapoulie who, as their nickname suggested, were great devotees of Robert E. Park, William I.Thomas and all the other legendary members of that generation of Chicago sociology.
Peneff was distinctive in this crew by being a Gascon like dArtagnan in Dumas novel (The Three Musketeers) youthful, impulsive and on occasion brilliant, as this book proves. Naturally, he discerned similar virtues in me and in the sociological work I did. I wasn't such a heroic figure, but my inborn rebelliousness shaped my approach to teaching. I think that nothing proved to him our intellectual kinship more than the special classroom I taught my field work class in, one that I had persuaded the provost of Northwestern University to have constructed to my specifications (though it took no real construction). Anyone who has seen a standard French or American classroom finds it easy to understand my intention immediately. The American classroom has seats or benches bolted to the floor. The French version, the amphi, is even worse: a large hall, of long, curved desks with benches, from which the students have an unobstructed view of the distant figure who delivers wisdom for them to write down in their notebooks. Teachers cant have a conversation with people whose surroundings separate them in that way.
My request to the authorities for my special innovative classroom was as far as you could get from that. I wanted the room separated from other classrooms and so I got a room that hadnt, from the look of things, been used for anything much for many years, in the basement of one of the oldest buildings on the Northwestern campus. The only other room down there was a large toilet facility for men. And there was a coffee machine! The rooms darkness the only windows were toward the front of one of the walls where they let a little sun in satisfied another of my conditions, by allowing the room to be darkened so that films and slides could be projected. Finally, any built-in or other existing furniture (desks, chairs, etc.) would be removed.
The final, and most important part, of the request was for $200 that I could spend for furniture at the nearby Salvation Army store (stipulating that no purchasing department bureaucrats would be involved, I would do the purchasing myself). I happily went furniture shopping and got a lot for my money a wonderful broken down sofa, some scattered more or less wrecked chairs, no tables or desks. A handful of falling apart cushions you could use for sitting on the floor as back rests or whatever else came to mind.
