Geertz and Sociology

Abstract

Interpretative anthropology, like Znaniecki’s socjology, was born from the opposition towards the so-called hard anthropology and sociology. In the domain of its methods the significance of participating observation and free anthropological interview, as well as the role of the ‘area’ – the world we all have come to live in today, are emphasized. Hence, the first part of the article is devoted to the changes that occurred after World War II, not only in Europe, but also in North America and in the countries of the Far East. The variety that has been muddied recently makes anthropologists and sociologists more sensitive to the different aspects of the problem when they describe what Alien is. In the second part religion as a social phenomenon seen from various theoretical perspectives is shown. The case described by Geertz that is connected with the religion on Bali forces one to be careful with statements about traditional secularization theory, which stresses a destructive effect of modernization on religion.