Announcement

Just out – “Making Space for Art: A Spatial Perspective of Disruptive and Defensive Institutional Work in Venezuela’s Art World” Academy of Management Journal (AMJ) by Victoria Rodner, Thomas Roulet, Finola Kerrigan and Dirk vom Lehn

Announcement, museums, sociology

We have just published an article based on Victoria Rodner’s excellent PhD thesis in the Academy of Management Journal (AMJ). Drawing on longitudinal ethnographic and interview data the article explore how space is leveraged in institutional work, our study foregrounds the socio-political nature of space, building on and expanding the theorization of Lefebvre.

The article can be downloaded by clicking the link below:

“Making Space for Art: A Spatial Perspective of Disruptive and Defensive Institutional Work in Venezuela’s Art World”

by Victoria Rodner (@VictoriaLRodner), Thomas Roulet (@thomroulet), Finola Kerrigan (@finolak) and Dirk vom Lehn (@dirkvl)

Abstract

The physical and material aspects of space, such as geographical distance or boundaries, have social and symbolic consequences that impact how people influence and are influenced by institutions. Social actors can however contest how space is conceived, perceived and lived, thus making space a crucial lever in the disruption and defense of institutions. However, we lack understanding of the spatial aspects of such institutional struggles. In exploring how space is leveraged in institutional work, our study foregrounds the socio-political nature of space, building on and expanding the theorization of Lefebvre. We draw on an in-depth longitudinal analysis of the material, social and symbolic aspects of the spatial dimensions of disruptive and defensive institutional work over the past twenty years in Venezuela’s art world. Following the Bolivarian Revolution in the late 1990s, the incoming government transformed the organization of the national cultural landscape, resulting in a prolonged period of institutional disruption and defense. We demonstrate that actors use the material, social, and symbolic dimensions of space to challenge and maintain their key values and practices, and that those three dimensions are intertwined.

Keywords

Institutional theory, Emerging economies, Policy environment, International Management, Ethnography, Interviews

https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2016.1030

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SSSI 2019 – Thematic Panel: “Symbolic Interactionism and the Resurgent Interest in Organization and Management” #sociology #sssi #organizationstudies #management

Announcement, interaction, interactionism

At this year’s conference of the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction Patrick McGinty (Western Illinois University) and I will organise a Thematic Panel titled “Symbolic Interactionism and the Resurgent Interest in Organization and Management”.

The panel has been motivated by recent publications on the influence of interactionist research on and contribution to management and organisation studies. These publication have highlighted the curious mutual disregard of interactionism and organisational analysis and management studies. This panel will bring together interactionist scholarship that over recent years has undertaken considerable efforts in bringing the debates in these areas together and pushing forward the interactionist research of management and organization, both through theorizing and research.

More details on the panel’s speakers and presentations have been published in the SSSI 2019 Programme.

 

Relevant References

Dingwall, Robert, and Phil M Strong. “The Interactional Study of Organizations.” Journal Of Contemporary Ethnography14, no. 2 (1985): 205–31.
Fine, Gary Alan. “Justifying Work: Occupational Rhetorics as Resources in Restaurant Kitchens.” Administrative Science Quarterly41, no. 1 (1996): 90–115.
Gibson, Will, and Dirk vom Lehn. Institutions, Interaction and Social Theory. Oxford: Palgrave, 2017.
Grills, Scott, and Robert Prus. “Management Motifs: An Interactionist Approach for the Study of Organizational Interchange. New York: Springer. 2018.

Harrington, Brooke. Capital without Borders : Wealth Managers and the One Percent. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2016.

Hallett, Tim, and Marc Ventresca. “Inhabited Institutions: Social Interactions and Organizational Forms in Gouldner’s Patterns of Industrial Bureaucracy.” Theory and Society35, no. 2 (April 2006): 213–36. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11186-006-9003-z.

Llewellyn, Nick, and Jon Hindmarsh. Organisation, Interaction and Practice: Studies of Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis. Cambridge: CUP, 2010. http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0521881366.

McGinty, Patrick J. W. “Divided and Drifting: Interactionism and the Neglect of Social Organizational Analyses in Organization Studies: The Neglect of Social Organizational Analyses.” Symbolic Interaction37, no. 2 (May 2014): 155–86. https://doi.org/10.1002/symb.101.

Norris, Dawn R. Job Loss, Identity, and Mental Health. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 2016.
Sapir, Adi, and Nahoko Kameo. “Rethinking Loose Coupling of Rules and Entrepreneurial Practices among University Scientists: A Japan–Israel Comparison.” The Journal of Technology Transfer44, no. 1 (February 2019): 49–72. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10961-017-9596-6
Watson, Patrick G. “‘Common Sense Geography’ and the Elected Official: Technical Evidence and Conceptions of ‘Trust’ in Toronto’s Gardiner Expressway Decision.” Canadian Journal of Sociology43, no. 1 (March 31, 2018): 49–76. https://doi.org/10.29173/cjs27058.

New Online Course on Communication Skills in Optometry #optometry #training #communication

Announcement, experience, optometry

The College of Optometrists has recently launched a new online course on communication skills in optometry. The course, open to members of the College of Optometrists only, is aimed at newly qualified members and those returning to work. It will take participants through the stages of an eye examination and look at ways to improve communication skills. One non-interactive CET point is available and communication and standards of practice competencies are covered.

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Good communication can increase patient confidence in your knowledge and skills and result in greater patient satisfaction. It can also lead to more accurate test results and improved compliance with treatment plans. 

In this course you will cover the key stages of the eye examination:

·         meeting the patient

·         understanding patients’ concerns 

·         carrying out clinical tests 

·         delivering findings

·         ensuring patient compliance 

·         patient-centred care.

Activities are followed by hints and tips sections on open and closed questions and active listening.

This course is based on the results of research projects undertaken by King’s College London, the Institute of Education and the College of Optometrists from 2009 onwards. The projects investigated how optometrists conduct eye examinations and how their findings were communicated to patients.

Publications from the projects can be found HERE.

A description of the Knowledge Transfer Project funded by the ESRc and the College of Optometrists can be found HERE.

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CfP – ‘The Senses in Social Interaction – Symbolic Interaction Special Issue

Announcement, Call for Papers

Co-edited by Will Gibson (University College London, Institute of Education) & Dirk vom Lehn (King’s College London) 

Extended Submission Deadline: August 25th, 2019

Symbolic Interaction invites submissions for a Special Issue exploring the role of the senses in social interaction. Our particular concern is with how the senses are invoked in communicative practice in everyday life and how people make their sensorial experiences accountable to one another. The papers will mark a turning point in the study of the senses by analysing empirically senses as interactional phenomena — i.e. how people communicate about the senses; how talk, gesture, gaze, material artefacts, physical environments, and other resources are used to make the senses accountable to other participants; and how senses are made relevant and observable to unfolding interaction. We regard this approach as contrasting with existing research in the field that often looks at the ‘cultural significance’ of sensorial action or at the phenomenological experience and the meanings of sensorial action in absence of a close analysis of the interaction order in which such meanings are situated. 

Studies have begun to explore the ways that the sensorial activities figure in and configure social practices, and how they play a role in the structuring of contextually specific ‘practical relevancies’ (Mann 2018). We are particularly interested in research that develops this idea by looking at how the senses become relevant to ‘making something happen’. This ‘something’ may be in an organisational context, such as at work or in an organisationally ‘structured’ experience like visiting a gallery or going to a concert. Similarly, papers may look at more mundane contexts such as chatting, shopping, eating/drinking either in private or public spaces. A part of our interest is in exploring the methodological challenges in studying the senses (Vannini et al., 2012). In the light of this, we would be keen to publish a variety of methodological approaches from different theoretical perspectives, and to include work that uses a range of methods including observations and video methods, but also more experimental forms using contemporary modes of data representation from the arts. 

We welcome tentative expressions of interest and are happy to explore the fit of possible research papers with the above theme. Full papers should be submitted to the online system of Symbolic Interaction. Please select the tab related to this Special Issue when submitting your paper, or indicate in your cover letter that your paper is for the Special Issue. 

Deadline for submission is August 25th, 2019. Papers should not be longer than 8000 words (inclusive of references). Please follow the submission guidelines for the Symbolic Interaction journal. You will be informed by mid-October if your paper has been accepted for the Special Issue and if revisions are required to prepare the paper for publication. 

Will Gibson – w.gibson@ucl.ac.uk – Dirk vom Lehn – dirk.vom_lehn@kcl.ac.uk 

References 

Mann A (2018) Ordering tasting in a restaurant: experiencing, socializing, and processing food. The Senses and Society 13(2). 135–146. 

Vannini P, Waskul D and Gottschalk S (2013) The Senses in Self, Society, and Culture: A Sociology of the Senses (Contemporary Sociological Perspectives). Routledge. 

‘Institutions, Interaction, & Social Theory’ #sociology #interaction #organization #theory #research

Announcement, book

Earlier this year, Will Gibson (UCL) and I have published a book titled ‘Institutions, Organisation, & Social Theory’ (Palgrave). In the book we explore relationships between ‘institutional scholarship’ and ‘interactionist’ research. A short discussion of the book cn be found on the ‘Work in Progress Blog’.

WIPSociology

 

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New Book: Institutions, Interaction and Social Theory #sociology #sssi #emca #orgtheory

Announcement, book, ethnography, Ethnomethodology, Garfinkel, Goffman

Together with Will Gibson (UCL) I have just published a book titled “Institutions, Interaction and Social Theory” (Palgrave).

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From hospitals and prisons to schools and corporations: no matter how large or seemingly abstract, all institutions are ultimately the result of the actions and interactions of people. In this original and innovative text, Gibson and Vom Lehn show the different ways in which studying people’s own meaning-making practices can help us understand the role of institutions in contemporary society.

Institutions, Interaction and Social Theory takes the reader through the core conceptual foundations of Symbolic Interactionism, Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis. Engaging with a rich tradition in sociological thought, it suggests that interactionist perspectives have remained largely absent in the study of institutions, and how they contrast with and contribute to the broader field of research in institutional contexts.

With chapters on healthcare, education, markets, and art and culture, this text will be of interest to those studying institutions, organisations and work in sociology and in business schools. It will also be valuable for students of social theory interested in interactionism, and in the challenges and opportunities of connecting complex theoretical discussions to real world examples.

 

Studentship Opportunities at WIT – King’s College London

Announcement
(Apologies for cross posting)
 
We are offering opportunities to become a PhD researcher in the Work, Interaction and Technology group at King’s College London. The current faculty members are: Paul Luff, Dirk vom Lehn, Christian Heath and Jon Hindmarsh. We specialise in video-based field studies, drawing on ethnomethodology and conversation analysis.
 
Our recent PhD students have adopted this methodological approach to explore a wide range of topics and settings, including:
  • Collaboration around new technologies in cars
  • The initiation of work talk in open plan offices
  • Occupational skills and communication in beauty treatments  
  • Training conversations in dental education
  • Occupational practice and new technologies in control centres
  • Teamwork and collaboration in operating theatres
  • The work of tour guides in museums and galleries
We are keen to supervise video-based studies on any topic or setting related to work practice, occupations, coordination, organisation, consumer behaviour and new technologies.
 
If you are interested in finding out more about pursuing a PhD with us, please do get in touch. Alternatively, if you know of high quality students who might be interested in this opportunity, please do forward this message on to them.
 
Note that there are a range of funding opportunities currently available, including the studentship competition in our School (see below).
 
Many thanks and best wishes,
Jon, Paul, Dirk and Christian
 
 
Doctoral Research Studentships
King’s Business School
 
King’s Business School invites applications for funded, full-time PhD studentships to start in the 2018-19 academic year. We have a number of studentships available and are keen to attract talented and enthusiastic students who aspire to be future leaders in their academic fields of study. 
 
We are one of the top academic centres in management and business in the UK and have an outstanding reputation for the quality of our research and teaching. Furthermore, we have ambitious plans to grow and develop over the coming years and recently moved into the iconic Bush House in central London, providing our doctoral students with excellent facilities and opportunities to develop their skills and experience.
 
In addition, we are a constituent part of the LISS-DTP (London Interdisciplinary Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership), which draws together doctoral training at King’s, Imperial College London and Queen Mary, University of London. This partnership is recognised and funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).
 
The 3-year studentship covers the tuition fees, a generous training and conference grant, a stipend (currently £16,553 per annum) and the School provides additional paid teaching opportunities.
 
King’s Business School welcomes applicants in any of our areas of research expertise. 
 
The closing date for applications is: 25 January 2018 at 5pm.
Decisions will be announced in March 2018.
 
For full details of the application process, please see:

‘The Senses in Interaction’ – Call for Abstracts – ISA 2018 in Toronto

Announcement, Call for Papers

Will Gibson (UCL) and I are organising a session titled “The Senses in Interaction’ at the 2018 Conference of the International Sociology Association in Toronto. The Call for Abstracts for the larger track on “Senses and Society” led by Kelvin Low (National University of Singapore) has just been published on the ISA Website. Please click on the image below to be directed there.

senses-ISA