Ethnomethodology and anthropology

John O'Brien (JOBRIEN@UCS.INDIANA.EDU)
Wed, 16 Feb 1994 12:01:40 EST

Karla Powell is onto something worthwhile. Not only do Garfinkel and Geertz
have a common influence in Parsons, Garfinklel's entire set of theoretical
assumptions can be seen as virtual parallel to Goodenough's brand of
ethnoscience . . . although the rhetorical presentation is far different.
Ethnomethodology asserts a very structural functional paradigm, except that
the claim is that the structure lies in the cultural codes that underly
social behaviors, the ones negotiated and reconstructed time after time
. . . based on shared knowlede, and on the phenomenlological assertions
which translate to `culture as mental system'.
Anyway, the distinction between sociology and anthropology is a
construction of recent academia - not a real distinction.

John O'Brien
Indiana University
Department of Anthropology