First published in 1984, this is a study of categorization practices: how people categorize each other and their actions; how they describe, infer, and judge. The book presents a sociological analysis and description of practical activities and makes a cogent contribution to the study of how the moral order actually works in practical communicative contexts. Among the issues dealt with are: collectivity categorizations, the organization of lists and descriptions, moral attribution and inferences, and the relationship between standards of morality and standards of rationality.
Acknowledgements; Introduction; 1. Membership Categorizations 2. The Social Organization of Categorial Incumbency 3. Lists, Categorizations and Descriptions 4. Category-Occasioned Transformations 5. Category-Generated Problems and Some Solutions 6. Ways of Describing 7. The Inferential Environment of Hierarchies and Contrasts 8. Rationality, Practice and Morality; Appendix 1: Harvey Sacks on Categorization: An Overview; Appendix 2: Scarman Tribunal Data; Appendix 3: Hell’s Angels Data; Appendix 4: Social Enquiry Reports Data; Appendix 5; Appendix 6: Group Therapy Data; Notes; Subject Index; Name Index
Biography
Lena Jayyusi
