BEYOND WHAT ARE GIVEN AS GIVENS - ETHNOGRAPHY AND CRITICAL POLICY-STUDIES

This commentary argues for the importance of a mo welfare ethnography to theory to a critical stance on public policy and welfare reform. Tw o examples illustrate the vital robe of ethnography in creating social policies that respect the variety of human experiences. One is a stud y of block grants in the rural south, the other of fast-food service w orkers in Oakland. These examples show, the importance of using simila r methods but with differences in ethnographic focus in order to addre ss specific empirical problems and policy questions.