Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 December 2011
Robert Buijtenhuijs's critique of my book Rural Rebels (1977) is interesting because it highlights serious flaws that can be made in critical analysis, among them the ‘I think the writer means’ fallacy, a false dichotomy, reductionism and a disregard for the quality of the data. Since space limitations prevent me from replying to all of Buijtenhuijs's criticisms (his critique is three times longer than my permitted reply) I will limit myself to the aforementioned that are matters of more general concern.