2. Definition:
• According to Geoffrey M. Hodgson, “an
institution is a special type of social structure
that involves potentially codifiable and
(evidently or immanently) normative rules of
interpretation and behaviour”.
- Hodgson, G. M. (2006) What are institutions.
Journal of Economic Issues, 40(1), 4.
3.
4. Discourse:
“Institutional discourse is orientated to the
accomplishment of specific tasks and often
involves a hierarchical participant framework and
consequent apportioning of responsibility for
particular parts of discourse.”
Benwell, Bethan and Stokoe, Elizabeth, 2002, „Constructing Discussion Tasks in University Tutorials:
Shifting Dynamics and Identities‟, Discourse Studies, vol. 4, no. 4, p430
9. Institutions:
• “No social institution can be treated as a self-
subsistent entity which exists independently of the
accounting practices of its participants... it is within
these local sequences of talk, and only there, that
these institutions are ultimately and accountably
talked into being.”
• Heritage 1984 Garfinkel and Ethnomethodology 229; 290
10. Our Interaction...
• OPENING- pleasantries are exchanged
• REQUEST- what do you want?
• INTERROGATIVE SERIES- further questions
• RESPONSE- answer
• CLOSING- more pleasantries are exchanged
12. Your Interaction...
• OPENING- pleasantries are exchanged
• REQUEST- what do you want?
• INTERROGATIVE SERIES- further questions
• RESPONSE- answer
• CLOSING- more pleasantries are exchanged
14. Institutional Talk in SOC250:
• There is a great deal of overlap between this
topic and other areas covered in this course.
• In particular;
– Presentation of Self.
– Dramaturgy.
– Ethnomethodology.
– Sociocultural and moral order in talk.
15. Symbolic Interactionism:
• “Humans do not sense their environment
directly; instead, humans define the situation
they are in.”
– Charon, J. M. (2009). Symbolic Interactionism: An Introduction, an Interpretation, an
Integration. Northwestern University: Prentice Hall.
• In other words, humans perceive and interpret
their world independent of the world itself and
eachother.
• We have schemas or scripts for how we should
be behave and this is particularly relevant in
institutions.
17. Dramaturgy:
• “The backstage language consists of reciprocal
first-naming, cooperative decision-
making, profanity, opensexual remarks, elaborate
griping, smoking, roughinformal dress, ‘sloppy’
sitting and standing posture, useof dialect or sub-
standard speech, mumbling andshouting, playful
aggressivity and ‘kidding’,inconsiderateness for the
other in minor but potentiallysymbolic acts, minor
physical self-involvements such
ashumming, whistling, chewing, nibbling, belching,
andflatulence. The frontstage behaviour and
language canbe taken as the absence (and in some
sense theopposite) of this”
– Goffman 1990 Presentation of Self p. 129.
18. Dramaturgy:
• Front and back stage personas.
• Institutional talk is largely about presenting
the appropriate front.
• Presentation of the self.
19. The Institution of Politics:
• Hedging.
• Avoiding questions.
• Saving face.
• Impression management.
• All part of the ‘code’ of political bullshitting.
20. Ethnomethodology:
• Durkheim;
• “The objective reality of social facts is
sociology’s fundamental principle’”
• Andrew;
• Treat social facts as things.
• We accept institutions as existing even when
intangible, they help to create order.
21. Haecceity:
• The idea that social order is an evolving ‘self-
organising’ product of the members of society.
• Argues that micro forces create social order and
structures through their interaction.
• Institutions are the product of everyday
interaction.
22. Sociocultural identity in talk:
• “You know were doing 126 there aye bro? Hop
out I’ll just grab your deets bro.”
• The discourse markers used here are element
of a cultural script.
• Incorporated hedging and seems unusual as it
doesn’t meet our expectation of authority.
23. Conclusion:
• Talk in institutional settings effectively
represent the social norms of an institution.
• It is culturally bound and a product of the
everyday interaction between members of
society.
• Thanks for listening!
