The (re)production, negotiation, and navigation of social asymmetries-in-action: an introduction to the special issue

Tam, Catherine and Smith, Robin ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7457-9690 2025. The (re)production, negotiation, and navigation of social asymmetries-in-action: an introduction to the special issue. Symbolic Interaction Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

This article reconsiders, and argues for, the contribution of ethnomethodological and conversation analytic research (EM/CA) to the understanding of social asymmetries-in-action. As well as highlighting the significance of the approach in describing the interactional ‘machinery’ of supposedly “Big” social issues such as injustice, exclusion, and discrimination, it also considers some of the tensions that have been discussed by key scholars in the field. We discuss how EM/CA provides an ‘alternate’ approach to the understanding of social inequality and argue against assessing the contribution of EM/CA within dominant dualism of formal social science (for example, between ‘micro’ and ‘macro’ or ‘structure’ and ‘agency’). We return to some classic and foundational works in the corpus of EM/CA studies as well as more contemporary studies which have, in different ways, informed the articles of the special issue that this article introduces. In sum, the article roughly maps the terrain from which this special issue emerged and aims to advance EM/CA research relating to social issues (e.g., ableism, racism) as they are produced, negotiated, and made accountable in situ.

Item Type:	Article
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Schools > Social Sciences (Includes Criminology and Education)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
Publisher:	Wiley
ISSN:	0195-6086
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	16 October 2025
Date of Acceptance:	15 October 2025
Last Modified:	16 Oct 2025 09:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/181697

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