On the Context Sensitivity of Institutional Interaction

Abstract

The study of institutional interaction explicates the verbal activities and interactional arrangements through which institutional practices are realized. I demonstrate that to analyse these practices sensitively, the analyst must possess sufficient knowledge of the context. In institutional settings an agent may orient to expert knowledge or organizational procedures taken for granted for the practice in question, but not known to outsiders.Understanding the context-sensitive meaning of the activities may depend on access to these particulars. Methodologically, the procedural relevancy of context is a crucial criterion against arbitrary invocation of a countless number of extrinsic, potential aspects of context. I will show that the analyst's ability to use procedural consequentiality as an analytical criterion depends on the analyst's sufficient knowledge of the context in question. By characterizing the ways `generic' interactional patterns are used in institutional settings, we can also address larger sociological questions about institutional identities and the exercise of institutional power.