Reflexivity at Work: Making Sense of Mannheim's, Garfinkel's, Gouldner's, and Bourdieu's Sociology

Various uses of the concept and practice of reflexivity are widespread within contemporary sociological literature. Much of the writing about reflexivity is about the very nature of sociology as a discipline, how it ought to be practiced, and what kind of goals it ought to pursue. This dissertation investigates the link between reflexivity and the what, how and why of Karl Mannheim's sociology of knowledge, Harold Garfinkel's ethnomethodology, Alvin Gouldner's reflexive sociology, and Pierre Bourdieu's reflexive sociology. This dissertation puts reflexivity to work by using it as a lens to `make sense' of their sociology. It does so by constructing thematic accounts around the history, nature and role of reflexivity within each of their respective sociologies. Several common themes emerge from this in-depth engagement with their work: these authors were all concerned, not only with the nature of the discipline, but also sought to reform it in particular ways; their sociology displayed historical and philosophical sensibilities; they all wrote about the constitutive nature of language and to a certain extent the role of education; they all discussed the role that must be played by sociologists themselves; and all of them offered a clear vision of what goals sociology ought to pursue. These insights are then brought together for the purposes of promoting a concept-practice of reflexivity as humility whose end goal is a responsible, productive, and value-committed sociology.