Standing in Public Places: An Ethno-Zenic Experiment Aimed at Developing the Sociological Imagination and More Besides …
Year: 2017
Type: article
Abstract: This article describes and analyses an ethno-Zenic experiment consisting of standing motionless in public places (for example, at the entrance to a shopping mall, in front of a petrol station, a bank or a shop, or on a street corner). The research was inspired by an ethnomethodological approach to lived order and psychological knowledge-derived from Buddhism-on how the mind works. Some inspiration was also drawn from symbolic interactionism. The experiment was aimed first at discovering the basic assumptions underlying our everyday activities. A second and more important goal was to deconstruct the work of the mind, especially with respect to the process of the looking-glass self and 'producing' emotions. The article also discusses the use of the self-study method (ethno-Zenic experiments) to deconstruct the mind as part of a lived order in a certain location and, in the wake of that, mindfulness.
Source: Czech Sociological Review
Author: Krzysztof Konecki
Institution: University of Łódź
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W2789364228