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In the following conversation, Howard S. Becker talks about his lifelong travel with and between sociology and jazz music, his professional training as a sociologist, the hazards of a career, and his involvement with photography and performance. He reflects on the different ways used by artists and sociologists to tell solid stories about social phenomena, and tells a compelling account in its own right about the methodology of sound sociological field work and case study research. By explaining core concepts of his sociological perspective (such as the concept of labeling and "doing things together") and referring to concrete research examples, Becker in all modesty fully engages with what could be called today's sociological imagination, leaving narrow disciplinary constraints behind in order to explore society with curiosity, using methodologically sensible but nevertheless refreshing approaches. (author's abstract)

Introduction -- Why should we read Howard Becker? -- The sociologist of work -- The social worlds of organizations, institutions and professions -- From pragmatism to interactionism -- Professor Becker's approach to teaching -- Becker in France -- Conclusion

Who is Howard S. Becker? This book traces his career, examining his work and contributions to the field of sociology. Themes covered include Becker's theoretical conceptualizations, approaches, teaching style, and positioning in the intellectual milieu. Translated from French by sociologist Robert Dingwall, the English edition benefits from an editorial introduction and additional referencing, as well as a new foreword by Becker himself.

This article explores the idea of Howard S. Becker as organisational theorist. It examines some of the principal conceptual imagery in Becker's work and considers the significance of this imagery for how organisations are 'seen' (conceptualised) and 'looked at' (analysed). To this end, a critical comparison of Becker's concept of world and Bourdieu's concept of field is undertaken. By his own admission, Becker recognises that some of his key studies—of art worlds, jazz musicians, educational environments and so forth—might be recast as centrally 'about organisations'. However, it is argued that Becker is something of an 'unwilling' organisational theorist; not in the sense that he avoids or is ignorant of the conceptual debates invoked by that term, but in as much as formal theory without object is profoundly at odds with key aspects of his sociological practice. Accordingly, this article centrally considers how Becker has consistently 'looked elsewhere' in much of his work. 'Looking elsewhere', it is proposed, involves reframing key conceptual and methodological problems such that they are amenable to research. It also involves an often radical rejection of the framing of certain kinds of problem, points towards alternative modes of analysis and investigation and entails the development of conceptual imagery expressly intended to avoid the restrictions and confinement of now dominant forms of analytical convention.

People who get high and the others -- Jazzmen and company -- Culture in motion -- A sociological perspective -- What is there to see, what is there to say? -- A researcher set free -- Introduction to the appendixes / Howard S. Becker -- Appendix A: a dialogue on the ideas of "world" and "field" / Howard S. Becker and Alain Pessin -- Appendix B: a tribute to Alain Pessin / Howard S. Becker -- Appendix C: four things I learned from Alain Pessin / Howard S. Becker