Digital Society, Interaction Order and Automation (Emerald Points)

In a world transformed by digital innovations and a social life increasingly digitally automated and augmented, Digital Society, Interaction Order and Automation advances our understanding of how interactionist thinking can be leveraged as a conceptual and methodological resource for approaching digital societies in relation to automation and the emerging contours of interaction order in the 21st century.

Drawing on the inspirational work of Erving Goffman, Harold Garfinkel and Harvey Sacks, alongside empirical inquiry, Housley and Dahl consider how the study of interaction order might shape a contemporary and future-oriented sociological understanding of social interaction, automation and organisation in digital times. Adopting a creative and distinct approach situated within sociological inquiry, namely interactionist sociology, ethnomethodology and conversation analysis, the authors explore the relationship between interaction order, synthetic sociality and socio-digital change through the lens of punctuation and automation and it’s situated production and incorporation within contemporary contours of interaction.

A timely contribution to mediating the emerging contours of digital society, this is important reading for an interdisciplinary audience that includes, sociologists, cultural theorists, social psychologists, linguists, ethnographers and computer scientists.

William Housley is Professor of Sociology at Cardiff University, UK.

Patrik Dahl is a Teaching Associate and Researcher at Cardiff University, UK.