Conversation analysis, institutions, and rituals

By relating conversation analysis (CA), in particular CA research on institutional
interaction to such research traditions as sociological institutionalism, new
materialism, and ritual theory, the article illustrates how CA scholarship can
contribute to macrosociological theorizing. This argument is illustrated by how
national parliaments are organized as institutions. The main point made in the article
is that occasions of what CA calls institutional interaction should be considered as
rituals. Although those occasions are scripted ceremonial performances wherein
social pressure, material conditions, or avoidance of punishment make actors
conform, they still play a role in constituting social order by making participants
honor the rules and principles codified in an organization’s frontstage events. The
article also underlines that organizational arrangements do not determine what
actors can say or do, but they impose limits and conditions on people’s conduct.
Finally, the paper suggests that it is through such arrangements of institutional
interaction that social structure is created, maintained, and naturalized.