There has been a tendency of late for many people to be interested
in very vague theory that purports to be part of the Post-Postmodernist
tradition. One example is the work done by the German thinkerSloterdijk
(2011[1998], 2012a, 2012b). Sloterdijk is a good example of how definitely
not to do thick description, Symbolic Interactionism or Neo-Weberian
CHS. (I will not attempt here to comment on his contributions to
philosophy or architecture.) I believe that the Interpretive sociological and
anthropological tradition, solidly based on thick description and ideal
type analysis is far superior to such speculative approaches to social
science. But if we are going to defend Symbolic Interactionism and CHS
we should not simply stick with misleading examples. Geertz’s work as a
whole is very valuable, but the specifics of his article on thick description
leave much to be desired. Unfortunately the widespread use of that article
as a chapter in edited books has given many students who have no other
knowledge of Bali or of Indic Civilization generally an entirely misleading
impression.
Bali today is no longer completely traditional of course. Moreover, there
havebeen layers of romanticization. Those attempts to make Bali seem like
a “paradise” have often created an entirely misleading impression (Vickers,
1973 ,1996 [1981]). Much has changed in the last two centuries. Geertz’s
excellent bookNegara(1980)mainly deals with the nineteenth century,
when things were already changing rapidly.^7 But there is enough informa-
tion known about Bali to make good “scientific” (wissenschaftliches) esti-
mates of the way things probably were before the Netherlands East Indies
started to have an impact in the nineteenth century and before the massive
influx of short-term tourism started in the 1970s and 1980s. There is a great
deal known about Bali (e.g., Eiseman, 1990) that does not hinge on
Symbolic Interactionist research per se. But by using a Symbolic
Interactionist approach we can move beyond simple journalistic description
and “grand theory” speculation. This essay on one participant observer
experience of one odalan, written from a sociological perspective, can help
illuminate a very complex reality. We do not have to completely reinvent
social science approaches in order to achieve that goal.^8 An excellent exam-
ple of detailed ethnographic description is the alternative criminological
research done byFerrell (2005). He is truly immersed in the culture which
he studies because he not only does first-hand observation and participant
observation but he also profoundly understands the culture of consumption
and waste of modern (or postmodern) America. Those who have experi-
ence in contemporary industrial, finance capital societies like the United
States, Canada, and the Netherlands do not have to be told about the
Geertz’s “Thick Description” and a Balinese Temple Ritual 107