A Most Respectable Prejudice - Boudon
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5632116 |
|---|---|
| Authors | James Murphy (0000-0002-7102-7783), James L Murphy (0000-0003-1945-4865, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1992 |
| Volume | 43 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 485 |
| Publication date | 1992-09-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | British Journal of Sociology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0007-1315 • E-ISSN: 1468-4446 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/591546 |
| OpenAlex | W2324245157 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 3 |
More than a few commentators over the years have come to regard the 'friction of minds', ' the 'clash of perspectives'2 or as Popper once put it 'the friendly-hostile debate of scientists'3 as an important, if not infallible check on research which is one-sided, short-sighted or just plain bad. Professor Cohen's commentary4 on my critique of educational research and policy,5 stands full square within this honourable if, sadly, no longer fashionable tradition. Though he is not, as he rnakes clear, in agreement with my unflattering analysis of post-war research and reform, he is, nonetheless, anxious that it be addressed rather than just ignored. To this end, Professor Cohen focuses, thankfully in a friendly rather than hostile manner, on the omission from my account of'the robust theoretical perspective of Raymond Boudon';6 a perspective which, in Professor Cohen's view, displays none of that blinding preoccupation with education which left so many other commentators unable to handle class difference in aspiration, except as pathological. As Professor Cohen sees it, Boudon's thesis is not tainted by that stifling parochialism, nor flawed by that comfortable certitude which, for no clear reason, simply assumed such differences to be unfair and unjust. Not only did such an overworked assumptionX as Boudon saw it, promote an inherently deterministic view of such differences - on this assumption such difference was merely the 'result' of 'structured inequality' - but worse, it fostered explanations which patently failest, 'to explain the fact that large numbers of working-class and middleclass youngsters deviate from their class norms'.7 Given that the central thrust of my original critique was to suggest that most, if not all post-war commentaries were suffused by this disturbingly parochial concern with education, Professor Cohen is indeed right to see the omission of Boudon as significant
Prejudice (legal term · Diverse Education Studies and Reforms · Global Educational Policies and Reforms · Psychology · Social Psychology
| Citations per year | 0.06 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1995 - 1997 (3) |
| Highly cited | No |