Peki ya Mozart? Peki ya Cinayet?: Vakalar Üzerinden Akıl Yürütmek

by Howard S. Becker, Özlem Alioğlu Türker (Çeviren), Ebru Arıcan (Çeviren)

Peki bunun sahasını nerede yapmalıyım hocam? Ve tabii ki nasıl? Ama bunun için kaç tane vakayı çalışmam gerekir ki? Üstelik nereden başlayacağımı ve neye bakmam gerektiğini de bilmiyorum? Kaç vaka, nasıl bir yöntem, nasıl bir çıkarsama? Âlimane bir dile çevirdiğimizde, esasında sosyal bilimlerdeki karmaşık epistemolojik tartışmalara ve elbette ihtilaflara da gönderme yapan ve sadece zanaata yeni girmiş çırakların değil, en mahir ustaların dahi üzerlerinde halen anlaşamadıkları bu sorulara Becker, elinizdeki çalışmasında kendi cevaplarını veriyor; elbette yine olabildiğine sarih düşünerek ve yazarak ve yine her zaman yaptığı gibi tartışmayı pratik bir düzleme çekerek.

Sadece yöntemsel olarak değil, bir araştırma gündemi ve sosyal bilim pratiği olarak da Becker’in bu husustaki tercihi elbette bir sır değil: vaka incelemeleri. Peki nedir bir vaka incelemesi? Örneğin tek bir vakanın derinlemesine tasvirinden hareketle nasıl bir muhakeme yürütülebilir ve buradan da nasıl bir genellemeye gidilebilir? Becker’in beslendiği ve hemhâl olduğu sosyal bilim geleneğinin tüm orijinalliği belki de burada ortaya çıkıyor: Aslında burada söz konusu olan, vakayla düşünmek ve onunla beraber akıl yürütmek; düşüncenin sınırlarını sadece vakanın sınırlarıyla eşlemek değil. O hâlde bu, tekilde (veya vakada), tesis edilmiş bir genelin sıradan bir tezahürünü mü görmek? Hayır, bu da değil. Burada düşünce, bir tekilliği her zaman bir başka tekillik üzerinden kavrıyor; onu, bir perspektif içerisinde konumlandırarak diğeriyle benzerlik veya farklılıkları üzerinden tartışıyor. Ve işte böylece, örneğin bir papaz ile bir psikiyatrın ortak yanı kendini ele veriyor: mahremin defterdarı olmak.

Karşılaştırmayı, sadece bir yöntem olarak değil, sosyolojik pratiğin bizzat kendisi olarak gören Durkheim ile, tekilliklerden hareketle ideal-tipik kategorilere ulaşmayı disiplinin temel gayesi olarak koyan Weber de belki burada buluşuyor; elbette tüm tedrisi ezberleri ve tasnifleri bozarak. Devamı mı? Bu ufak bir aperatifti. Çok hünerli bir aşçının mutfağında pişmiş leziz mi leziz yemek içeride. Tatmak istemez misiniz? Buyurunuz…

Genres: Sociology, Nonfiction, Academic

293 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2014

About the author

Howard Saul Becker was an American sociologist who taught at Northwestern University.

Reviews

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sociologist and jazz pianist Howard Becker touches on a number of seemingly disparate topics in this collection of essays. His narrative is, for the most part, very engaging. Unlike many social scientists, he presents his account without resorting to statistics or regression analysis. His case studies range from how value is determined in the marketplaces of contemporary art, and how seemingly well-meaning professionals of unimpeachable rectitude suddenly find themselves guilty of embezzlement, to how drug use or abuse is comprehensible only by studying a vast matrix of variables that include politics, law, commerce, and the personal and social suggestibilities of the individual users. ('Matrix' and 'variable' not used in a mathematical sense, here.)

Mainly, my disappointment is not reading more about any up-to-date thoughts that Becker may have about 'deviance', to follow up on his 1963 study Outsiders: Studies in the Sociology of Deviance. Given that this initial study was during a time of great national turmoil (think Cold War, Cuban Missile Crisis, Oswald and the assassination of Kennedy), I am guessing that 'deviance' along social-political-religious lines could be updated to take into account the fragmentation of the world post 9/11, or even in the shadow cast by the Great Recession. Who are the deviants now— surely not a high percentage of marijuana users in the state of Colorado? Instead, might it be those 'hustlers' or 'tricksters' who engineered bailouts and government contracts for entire sectors of the world economy to their own advantage? If Becker had addressed these contemporary issues, I would have found the book riveting.

As a Marxist, Becker is always aware of power structures: shop foremen as mediators between owners and production workers, or jazz musicians as intermediaries between club bosses (or cocktail waitresses, for that matter) and club patrons. In an early chapter, he cites the archetype of the mediator who can be found within any group of people—the “‘middleman’, the guy who knows how to get impossible things done”. Becker relied on such a person to get needed departure visas when he was on sabbatical in Brazil, during a period when his own efforts through official channels became fruitless. Indeed, it seems that in Becker’s critique of things, it is these ‘unofficial’ representatives—‘middlemen’, ‘expediters’, or ‘tricksters’—who really provide the goods. Creation of value isn't just an economic metric, it resides in what might be called 'social capital', or 'local knowledge'. These ‘hustlers’ (he doesn’t use the term) are the people self-consciously in the position of guaranteeing outcomes (or outputs) in a given set of circumstances.

In my favorite excerpt quoted by at least one other book reviewer Becker outlines his approach to the milieu of a classical symphony concert. Sociologists, he writes, “try to identify and understand everything at work in a situation that contributes to the result they want to understand, the composer and the performer and the copyist and the parking attendant.” In this well-tuned system, every performer is some kind of hustler, and vice-versa.

[Ari Stillman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book that any social scientist – especially those still going through their PhD – would benefit from reading. In characteristic approachable prose, Becker walks the reader through lessons he learned over the course of his academic journey (beginning as a master's student). In one chapter, he reproduces an article he published and provides commentary on what he is saying every few paragraphs to illustrate the lesson of reasoning from cases. In doing so, the reader comes to throughly understand how to identify various inputs towards demystifying black boxes of related cases – as well as when to stop seeking perfect knowledge in considering the relationship between expenditure and outcome. The title itself refers to hecklers who seek to counter an argument by a reference resting upon an unspoken proof and often epistemological assumptions – often when their own beliefs seem under attack. Today, we might say "because science" as shorthand for not understanding the science behind something but nevertheless deferring to it. This book on methodology packaged as wisdom told through anecdotes and reflection is well worth the read.

[Diego Binayan · Rating 3 out of 5]

El libro no me aportó nada, honestamente. Debería haberle puesto dos estrellas, pero el título es tan original (y vendedor o marketinero) que ganó una estrella más.
Es un libro destinado a alguien que nunca hizo o leyó una investigación social con cierto rango científico. Explica muy coloquialmente como realizar una investigación esquivando en todo momento cualquier caracterización científica. Probablemente los trabajos del autor en distintos journals puedan ser más atractivos pero, de ser así, es un desperdicio que el autor haya escrito un libro así.
Varios errores en la edición (en cuanto a tipeo), una traducción que da la impresión de ser bastante liviana y analogías con casos de estudio poco relevantes, hacen del libro una suerte de charla de café. Si ese era el objetivo, le sobran la mitad de las páginas escritas. Una pena que siglo XXI edite un libro así.

[Ralph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good title. Captured my interest so ordered it, expecting more of a legal or hard science type of approach. It is actually a serious sociology book and I enjoyed it for a while but found myself looking forward to finishing it. No fault of the author, I just wasn't ready to exercise my mind that much.

[Debora Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

En general me gusta mucho este autor y este libro me ha propuesto interesantes ejercicios para el análisis y la investigación. Lástima que hacia el final se vuelva un poco contradictorio

[Charlotte Dunn · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was some value in this but an awful lot of explaining a simple point in far too many words. Notes to add to notion.

[Mills College Library]

301.01 B3956 2014