Art in Qualitative Sociology without Revolution: A Short Introduction

Abstract

This thematic issue focuses on two questions, namely – ‘what place does art occupy in qualitative sociological research?’; and ‘how can joined academic and artistic explorations address the problem of otherness (also within the interaction between artists and social researchers)?’ The foregoing experience indicates that the closest relationship between social sciences and art has been realized within critical approaches. Representing a less radical stance, the author suggests that the key to an effective combination of sociology with artistic activities is to divide the participation of them into different stages or levels of a given research project. While artists would work at the level of designing and conducting interventions as well as encouraging and mobilizing the involvement of the participants and the recipients of the project, the task for sociologists would be to support the planning and organization of the artistic intervention, and, subsequently, to collect materials documenting its course, analyze and interpret its results, and evaluate the whole project in terms of its impact on the social environment and the development of knowledge about the studied aspect of social life. Such an approach makes it possible to ensure the separateness and specialization of both these areas of knowledge production, and takes into account the limitations and requirements that originate from the social context. Signs of making a similar choice have been demonstrated in the contributions within this volume; the authors focus on the analysis of art works and the situation of their creation, leaving the first move to the creativity of artists.