The Moses Effect: The Spatial Hierarchy and Joint Accomplishment of a Blind Person Navigating

Abstract

Using ethnomethodology and conversation-analytical methodologies, this article shows how a blind person accomplishes going from A to B. Based on an analysis of a blind person’s walk from a zebra crossing to a train platform, the article offers empirical evidence of how pedestrians and the blind avoid collision in orderly and accountable ways. The article shows how the burden of the interactional work involved in avoidance seems consistently to rest on pedestrians rather than the blind. As the blind person walks, sighted pedestrians move aside. To describe this, we use the metaphor of Moses, who separated the waters. The article discusses the collaborative achievement, moral orders, and joint accomplishment of a blind person navigating in urban environments. It thereby contributes to the growing body of research within Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis studies focused on the spatial turn and public encounters by invoking a notion of hierarchy among pedestrians.