Generic Social Processes

Abstract

Focusing on the production of a processual ethnographic sociology, this article has three major objectives. The first is to outline the roots of “generic sociology,” particularly in light of the interpretive/ethnographic inquiry. The second objective is to indicate the sorts of difficulties ethnographers are apt to encounter in pursuing the study of generic social processes. Third, some suggestions for an intensification of efforts toward a generic processual sociology are offered. Thus some “interactive strategies” (pertaining to teaching, doing research, reporting findings, editing, conferencing, and networking) are proposed, as is an overview schema for a more intensively processually focused sociology. Some readers will be disappointed in that no solutions of a “quick fix” nature are offered. To the contrary, the development of a processual ethnographic sociology is viewed as a long, demanding, and cumulative process. To those mindful of the value of a generic conceptualization of social action to the study of group life, however, this seems a more desirable pursuit.