Men and Their Moments: Character-Driven Ethnography and Interaction Analysis in a Park Basketball Rule Dispute

Abstract

Both conversation-analytic and ethnographic studies of interaction tend to isolate situated conduct from the full biographical context that is meaningful to actors. This article argues that there are good analytic reasons to recover some of that biographical context by incorporating character-driven ethnographic representation within interactionist research. I make this case in reference to a rule dispute captured on video during an ethnography of a public park basketball game. Through a biographically contextualized analysis of players’ situated conduct, I show how character representation allows unspoken threads of actors’ lives to become analytic resources. Incorporating biographical context also opens a methodological path for interactionists to leverage the close-up study of situated encounters for empirical claims about broader forms of social organization. In this case, I argue that character-driven representation allows for an analysis that identifies rule disputes as an interactional mechanism of socially integrative park use.

Moral landscapes and morally meaningful encounters: how interaction ritual connects conversation analysis and cultural sociology

“…Broadly conceived, these approaches reach toward more general social theory. Informed by EMCA, DeLand (2021) incorporates analysis of character and biography into ethnographies of group activity. Work in interactional pragmatics and the broader multimodal turn advances understandings of the local accomplishment of intercultural communication and competency in public settings and in periods of crisis ( Mondada, 2009 ; Mondada et al, 2020 ).…”

The paradox of disengagement: Bodily displays of inattention in couple therapy

“…Conversation analysis typically focuses on overt behaviors in sequences of action and avoids references to the psychological or other properties of the interaction-participants. Recently, however, some researchers have also started to investigate the linkages between interactional and psychological processes (see, e.g., Peräkylä et al, 2015;DeLand, 2021). Interactional engagement is a topic where the exploration of such linkages might be relevant.…”

Basketball in the Northland: a community account of the political economy and racial dynamics of youth basketball in a “hockey town”

“…Regarding effects among basketball participants (formally organized or ostensibly informal), Viyera's ( 12 ) foray into Philadelphia pickup games shows play serving as a center for galvanizing community and support systems. Complementarily, for DeLand ( 14 , 15 ), the social accomplishment of games is an active process of acclimating to and deploying repertoires of conflict management, where skills of handling disputes and building credibility are learned. The ways sports can have a lasting impact on lives and foot social development through mentorship figures, such as coaches, are starkly reflected in the literature on coaching ( 16 , 40 ).…”

“…Roman, a 66-year-old who played college basketball out of Lakecrest and remains involved in youth basketball, said likewise, "All you needed was a basketball Many connected formative experiences with currently held organizational and mentorship roles. On learning interpersonal negotiation as a springboard (12)(13)(14), for Nick, "basketball … really helped me know how to interact and work with others in a cooperative way." In addition, for the youth sports leadership program he works for now, "What we're trying to do to [is] equal the playing field for kids to have opportunities to be successful."…”

“…Social scientists have voluminously underscored the racial and socio-economic significance of basketball (3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11), community relations and cultures surrounding basketball in places such as urban parks (12)(13)(14)(15), and the role engagement with basketballboth formally and informally organized-may play in growth and development (13) [see also (16)]. However, what about these focal points when the foundational association between basketball and accessibility in cities cannot as readily be takene.g., where outdoor play is significantly limited by weather and indoor basketball facilities may additionally be relatively sparse?…”