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Article published In:
The micro-politics of sequential organization: Contributions from conversation analysis and ethnomethodology
Edited by Lorenza Mondada and Sara Keel
[Journal of Language and Politics 16:1] 2017
► pp. 1–18

The micro-politics of sequential organization

Contributions from conversation analysis and ethnomethodology

| University of Basel
| University of Basel

Conversation analysis (CA) and ethnomethodology (EM) have long dealt with political talk, but this is the first thematic volume showing the continuity and diversity of EMCA studies in this field. This introduction provides an overview of early to recent EMCA contributions to the study of political talk and discusses how they developed a distinctive field of investigation and how the papers of the special issue draw on and contribute to it. The introduction also clarifies how specific sequential and categorial organizations of social interaction manifest and foster political action and participation, and are locally treated as of political importance by the participants themselves. The study of micro-politics of sequentiality focuses on the temporal, emergent, and sequential unfolding of interaction and the way its organization opens/closes possible occasions for politically relevant actions. By showing how these are established, responded and oriented to by the participants, it offers a respecification of political issues.

Keywords: conversation analysis, political interactions, institutional talk, sequentiality, categorization
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The contributions of EMCA to the study of political talk
    • 2.1Political speeches and their reception by co-present audience
    • 2.2Question/Answer sequences in news interviews
    • 2.3Historical trends of Q&A formats in presidential press conferences
    • 2.4Sequential and categorical organization of broadcasted political discussions in radio phone-ins and television debates
    • 2.5Grassroots political activities and citizen participation in political encounters
  • 3.Conclusion: the special issue’s contributions to the micro-politics of sequentiality
  • References
Published online: 25 April 2017
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.16.1.01kee
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