The job seeker as a moral category

Categorization, moral judgments and emotions in institutional encounters

Authors

  • Julia Velkovska Orange Labs, Sociology and Economics Department (SENSE), 38-40, rue du Général Leclerc, 92130 Issy Les Moulineaux (France).
  • Moustafa Zouinar Orange Labs, Sociology and Economics Department (SENSE), 38-40, rue du Général Leclerc, 92130 Issy Les Moulineaux (France).

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/japl.26892

Keywords:

assessment, emotions, ethnomethodology, institutional interactions, moral judgment, unemployment, video-ethnography

Abstract

Drawing on ethnomethodology, conversation analysis and membership categorization analysis, the paper explores how ordinary moral judgments and emotions are intertwined with professional assessments in the structure of institutional interactions. Based on video recordings of interviews between unemployed people and counselors representing the French Public Employment Agency, the analysis focuses on the moment-by-moment organization of judgmental work and its embeddedness in bodily conduct, especially through expression of emotions. Following on Jayyusi’s concept of “asymmetric category pair” (Jayyusi 1984) the paper investigates the relationships between categorization, judgment and emotion. The paper highlights two findings: Firstly, professional assessments can take the form of ordinary moral judgments at precise sequential moments in the organization of these institutional interactions. Secondly, emotions appear as practically bound to judgmental work and have interactional consequences for the sequential organization of the interview. The sequential analysis of video data reveals structural aspects of professional judgmental work and of institutional action in “processing cases”, notably their moral, emotional and relational dimensions that would otherwise remain inaccessible.

Author Biographies

  • Julia Velkovska, Orange Labs, Sociology and Economics Department (SENSE), 38-40, rue du Général Leclerc, 92130 Issy Les Moulineaux (France).

    Julia Velkovska is sociologist, senior researcher at the Sociology and Economics Department of Orange Labs and associated researcher at the Center for Study of Social Movements (CEMS), Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) in Paris. She received her PhD in Sociology from EHESS. Drawing on ethnomethodology her research interests are in the study of social interaction and its relations to communication technologies in personal and organizational settings, in particular service encounters. Recent work includes analysis of the transformations of service relationships related to the growing introduction of communication technologies between the organizations and their clients (video communication, internet, automated speech technologies).

  • Moustafa Zouinar, Orange Labs, Sociology and Economics Department (SENSE), 38-40, rue du Général Leclerc, 92130 Issy Les Moulineaux (France).

    Moustafa Zouinar is currently senior researcher in the Sociology and Economics department of Orange Labs. His research interests include analysis and design of the usage of information and communication technologies (e. g. video-mediated communication, mobile telephony). He specializes in video-based analysis of human activities, drawing on a situated action perspective.

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Published

2017-12-12

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Velkovska, J., & Zouinar, M. (2017). The job seeker as a moral category: Categorization, moral judgments and emotions in institutional encounters. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Professional Practice, 10(3), 237-264. https://doi.org/10.1558/japl.26892

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