Abstract

BOHNSACK, Ralf. Habitus multidimensionality and the praxiological construction of types. ETD [online]. 2011, vol.12, n.02, pp.22-41. ISSN 1676-2592.

In the Social Sciences, under the interpretation of actions, there are basically two methodological paths. The first is based on the imputation of subjective intentions and motives, developed by Alfred Schütz, founder of Social Phenomenology, in connection with the Interpretative Sociology by Max Weber. It is, in this case, a re-construction (construction of second degree), an interpretation and theorization that are done in the same way we perform in everyday life, in the common sense, that, in short, is the construction of types and motives (construction of first degree). Unlike a re-construction of this praxeological typification of common sense, the second path, that of the praxeological construction of types, transcends theory and interpretation of common sense and searches for the praxis structures of the actors, for their modus operandi, habitus or structures of orientation. The foci of interpretation are the incorporated practices and the atheoretical or implicit knowledge that guides the actions. Here we establish a connection with Karl Mannheim’s Sociology of Knowledge, documentary method and Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of the habitus. Based on the documentary method, we developed a methodology of research and interpretation of the construction of types. We avoid, in this way, the interpretation of a single case, emphasizing the work based on comparative analysis and extracting the orientation system (‘sinngenetische’ typification) and then investigate how, or under what conditions or spaces of experience (in ways according to specific milieu, generation, gender, etc.), typified orientations or habitus are formed (socio-genetic typification). This paper also regards the identification of overlaps between the different spaces of experience and thus the multidimensional nature of (the genesis of) orientations and habitus (multidimensional typification). The socio-genetic typification helps to solve the problem of generalization in qualitative social research.

Keywords : Constructions of Types; Habitus; Qualitative Methodologies; Documentary Method; Socio-Genetic Typification.

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