Identities in Talk

Identity attracts some of social scienceÆs liveliest and most passionate debates. Theory abounds on matters as disparate as nationhood, ethnicity, gender politics, and culture. But there is much less investigation into the actual empirical details of how identity appears in the details of everyday life. This book gathers together, in a collection of chapters that draw on ethnomethodology and conversation analysis, arguments that show that identities are constructed æliveÆ in the actual exchange of talk. By closely examining tapes and transcripts of real social interactions from a wide range of situations, using ethnomethodological and conversation analytic methods, the book examines just how it is that a person can be ascribed to a category and what features about that category are consequential for the interaction. This thoughtful volume is ideal for advanced undergraduates, postgraduates, and researchers in social psychology, sociology, communication, and anthropology.

Charles Antaki is Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Lancaster. He is editor of Analyzing Everyday Explanation (SAGE, 1988).

My primary interests, theoretical and empirical, are in self and identities, including personal and social identity and cultural variations in self-conception and individuality. I have participated in contemporary theoretical and methodological debates surrounding the concept of self and subjectivity and I am concerned to develop empirical approaches to understanding these complex issues. Further, related interests are in social groups, especially youth culture and subcultures; cross-cultural psychology and psychological anthropology; poststructuralism; and Arab identities. I also have an interest in language use, especially conversation and discourse analysis.