Mike Lloyd - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Mike Lloyd

Visual Studies, 2016

A case study is presented of a violent incident that arose between two men riding a mountain biki... more A case study is presented of a violent incident that arose between two men riding a mountain biking track in New Zealand. This gained both local and international attention after one of the riders posted his video of the incident on a social media site where it went 'viral'. The video helped identify the other rider, who was taken to trial and convicted of assault. The fairness and means of the conviction is not at issue here, rather, the interest is in the video as a rare record of the joint production, in real time, of an ordinary trouble that takes an unexpected turn. The two riders catch up with each other, travelling downhill at a decent speed on a narrow track. Their riding requires significant concentration, nevertheless, while biking they are able to communicate, verbally and visually. This communication shows disagreement about the format of their riding-together, with the camera-clad rider wanting to pass the older rider in front, and proceed at a faster pace. Except for an intriguing and brief interlude, however, the older rider will not let the other pass. Consequently, the camera-clad rider grows increasingly frustrated, but the problem is he is oblivious to the way his own tailgating affects the rider in front. It is the tailgating, along with some 'lecturing', that annoys the older rider. At the end of the ride both stop, complaints and accusations are made, then a brawl breaks out. Adapting Katz's (1999) work on emotions, we see both riders doing being 'pissed off', but with one shifting to 'being done' by his anger, escalating into violence. Screensnaps and transcriptions from the video are used to analyse the fine detail of a 5-minute mountain bike gone wrong.

Journal of Cultural Analysis and Social Change

In the 2021 Wimbledon tennis tournament in the third round of the women's singles, there was a si... more In the 2021 Wimbledon tennis tournament in the third round of the women's singles, there was a significant dispute between Jelena Ostapenko and Alja Tomljanovic. Several YouTube clips were posted within a day, all capturing in varying ways an intense dispute revolving around a claim of injury and the need for a medical time out at 4-0 in the deciding set. One clip in particular gained many more views than others, and this is used for a qualitative case study of an engaging sporting dispute. Through close attention to detail, insights are realized about the practical interpretive resources used to make judgements about 'good' and 'bad' sports practice. The fine detail of what is visibly and audibly available is key, suggesting that study of the interaction order is indispensable to sociological approaches to sport as engaging spectacle.

Mobilities, 2015

Abstract On a sunny Sunday afternoon in 2012 a conflict arose between two men riding a popular mo... more Abstract On a sunny Sunday afternoon in 2012 a conflict arose between two men riding a popular mountain biking track in New Zealand. This gained both local and international attention after one of the riders posted his video of the incident on a social media site where it went ‘viral’. The video helped identify the other rider, who was taken to trial and convicted of assault. This paper uses the video as data for an ethnomethodological analysis of the joint production, in real time, of an ordinary trouble that takes an unexpected turn. The two riders come across each other travelling downhill at speed on a narrow track, and quite quickly they develop a disputed mobile formation. The camera-clad rider wants to pass the older rider in front, and proceed at a faster pace, but except for an intriguing and brief interlude, the older rider will not let the other pass. Consequently, the camera-clad rider grows increasingly frustrated; the problem is, he is oblivious to the way his own actions in showing he is faster, result in dangerous tailgating. It is this, along with some ‘lecturing’, that annoys the older rider. At the end of the ride, complaints and accusations are made, and then a brawl breaks out. The paper uses snapshots and transcriptions from the video to analyse how visual, vocal and tactile aspects of their interaction, situated in the terrain they are travelling through, contribute to the conflictual ending.

Labour, Employment and Work in New Zealand

This paper stems from the chance acquisition of data on Occupational Safety and Health work: a Na... more This paper stems from the chance acquisition of data on Occupational Safety and Health work: a National Radio Spectrum documentary where a presenter 'spent the day· with an OSH inspector. This collection of talk about what the OSH inspector's work involves has been transcribed and is analysed here through the concept of 'practical phenomenology· (Atkinson 1995). That is, we see an expert concerned, as a matter of everyday work, with the nature of what he sees about him and how this might be described. What is identifiable as a hazard or risk in the workplace, and how can that be described to a range of other people, including bosses and workers in the workplace, professionals in other institutions, and of course the 'overhearing' radio audience? Hence, the practical adequacy of the OSH inspector’s work turns on the use of everyday resources, fundamentally the use of language. But it is not language in itself that is key, rather, we must attend to what people do w...

People often have good intentions towards the environment but fail to act upon them. Here we repo... more People often have good intentions towards the environment but fail to act upon them. Here we report on a trial utilising free plants as an ‘object-ive’ means of getting people involved in community greening programs. The trials used free plants combined with an organised planting event. The results suggest that offering free plants to householders living near common land is a promising way of increasing initial engagement in community greening programmes. The numbers participating in the trial were encouraging, and feedback received from participants was very positive. The trial reiterates the important role of objects in the people-place interactions that constitute the urban environment, though it has to be emphasised that the practical ‘do-ability’ and success of any green initiative can only be found in its actual, continued use.

Continuum

Abstract Since their creation in 2005, My Family stickers have become a familiar sight on car win... more Abstract Since their creation in 2005, My Family stickers have become a familiar sight on car windscreens. Existing scholarship has offered several explanations of this phenomenon, key amongst them being that the stickers reflect a conservative nostalgia for the nuclear family. These explanations have value, however, they move very quickly from description to explanation, sometimes leaving the grounds for their argument obscure. After summarizing existing work, some new My Family data collected in New Zealand are described. Using as many visual examples as possible, the full variety in the data is glimpsed, before some speculative explanation is offered. It is suggested that My Family stickers pinpoint a common structure shared with humour: the recognition of incongruity. Not discounting the role of conservative nostalgia for the nuclear family, it is possible that the use of My Family stickers is also strongly playful.

Mobilities

This empirical study uses video data to examine interactional adaptation between cyclists and ped... more This empirical study uses video data to examine interactional adaptation between cyclists and pedestrians in a relatively new cycle-lane. Existing research on intersections shows order is achieved through the frequent use of a look-recognition-acknowledgement sequence. Whereas this is found in the cycle-lane interactions, there is also an important divergent technique which on the surface seems less cooperative. Others are made to cede space based on 'doing and being oblivious', in short, forms of non-looking force others to take evasive action and subtly alter their line of travel. Here the dynamic nature of this obliviousness is shown through empirical examples. Even though it is not always easy to distinguish between the two forms of non-looking, it is concluded that 'doing oblivious', whilst possibly annoying for others, is most probably harmless, but there are good reasons to be more concerned about 'being oblivious', for it may lead to collisions between pedestrians and cyclists. Aspects of non-looking provide an important addition to knowledge of the mobile world, suggesting we renew attention to specific sites where people concert their movements in minutely detailed ways.

Human Studies

On a sunny Sunday afternoon in 2012 a conflict arose between two men riding a popular mountain bi... more On a sunny Sunday afternoon in 2012 a conflict arose between two men riding a popular mountain biking track in New Zealand. The bulk of this was filmed from a helmet-mounted action camera, facilitating a single case analysis of the transition from an everyday trouble to an unexpected violent ending. The two riders come across each other travelling downhill at speed on a narrow track. Unease quickly develops for the camera-clad rider wants to pass the rider in front, but except for an intriguing and brief interlude, the first rider will not let the other pass. The second rider grows frustrated, progressing to tailgate the 'slower' rider, in the midst of which he invokes a rule of mountain biking conduct. The reflexive implications of the rule-invocation need to be seen to be believed. The video is used as data to get close to such seeing, and despite some limitations, we can see a clear trajectory where the rule significantly contributes to a moment of phenomenological salience. Thereafter, it becomes witnessably relevant to the conflict that develops.

Media International Australia, 2009

First screened in 2007 on HBO television, Flight of the Conchords has received the best internati... more First screened in 2007 on HBO television, Flight of the Conchords has received the best international reception of any New Zealand-based television comedy. The series shows the two Kiwis, Bret and Jemaine — a musical duo — bumbling their way through trying to make it in New York. The failure scenario could have led to the typical sitcom fare of conflicting personalities with specific character types as the butt of humour; however, Flight of the Conchords avoids this standard route, and this may partly explain its popularity. Details are provided of exactly how the series makes ‘good’ humour, with a beginning contrast made to the Australian television series Kath and Kim, which has ridicule at its heart. Turnbull (2004) has pinpointed some unease about comedy based on ridicule, and specifically identifies genre mixing as a source of concern in Kath and Kim. In contrast, Flight of the Conchords, while getting close to ridicule, successfully avoids condescension by a different mix of g...

European Journal of Humour Research, 2014

This special issue arises out of an annual conference of the Australasian Humour Studies Network ... more This special issue arises out of an annual conference of the Australasian Humour Studies Network (AHSN). These have been held for two decades, but despite that longevity and the fact that the word Australasian refers to Australia and New Zealand, it was not until 2014 that the first AHSN conference was held in New Zealand, with the theme "Anything Goes?". As befits the study of humour, two meanings were intended. First, papers were welcomed on the limits of humour: does anything go in humour, and if not, what is too far and how do we know we have reached that point, and what happens thereafter? Second, partly because we wanted to guarantee good attendance, papers were welcomed on almost anythingparticipants were free to drop the question mark and present on their wide ranging interests in humour. There were many good papers amongst the latter; however, this special issue collects seven papers that did take the question mark seriously, addressing in varied ways the question of the limits of humour. These papers will be introduced shortly, but firstly we can quickly establish why this question is such a common and important one for the study of humour. Obviously, the titles of many books and articles indicate concerted scholarly attention to this topic: Laughter and

Kōtare New Zealand Notes Queries, Jun 7, 2012

The New Zealand medical journal, Jan 26, 1990

MEDIANZ: Media Studies Journal of Aotearoa New Zealand, 2006

Thesis Eleven, 2007

Within human studies humour has been approached in three main ways. We have sought to collect, ex... more Within human studies humour has been approached in three main ways. We have sought to collect, explain, or critique. There is substantial overlap. Nevertheless, various disciplines can be easily positioned within each category. Folklorists are the best example of the will to ...

Qualitative Health Research, 2000

Qualitative research gets close to experiences of pain, illness, and disease; consequently, quali... more Qualitative research gets close to experiences of pain, illness, and disease; consequently, qualitative researchers often find themselves asked troublesome questions (i.e., laypeople ask for practical, helpful answers to their everyday illness concerns). This is not surprising, but of interest is the fact that academics ask each other such troublesome questions as part of academic discourse. When academics ask such questions, they may sometimes be after practical information, but they may also be using the questioning as an attack on the supposed excessive relativism of social constructionism. Three key analytical moves that offer a useful deconstruction of troublesome health questions are outlined, showing that they are another useful topic of constructionist inquiry. To lessen abstraction, these moves are brought to bear on a case study of a possible connection between pesticide use and birth defects, thus showing how social science and epidemiology can be connected, troubled, and...

Qualitative Health Research, 1997

Lloyd / THE LANGUAGE OF REPRODUCTION 185 DueUi Klein, & Minden, 1984; Corea, 1985; Klein, 198... more Lloyd / THE LANGUAGE OF REPRODUCTION 185 DueUi Klein, & Minden, 1984; Corea, 1985; Klein, 1989; Overall, 1987; Spallone, 1989; Spallone & Steinberg, 1987). The diversity of feminist scholarship on infertility is further shown by the existence of an "internalist" ...

Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology, 1992

Maternal smoking during pregnancy and subsequent child cognitive development and ability were exa... more Maternal smoking during pregnancy and subsequent child cognitive development and ability were examined in a birth cohort of New Zealand children studied to the age of 12 years. Analysis at a bivariate level showed that children whose mothers smoked during pregnancy scored significantly lower on standardised tests of intelligence, reading and mathematical ability than children whose mothers did not smoke. However, after adjustment for confounding covariates, the results showed no detectable relationship between smoking during pregnancy and child cognitive ability. These results suggest that children whose mothers smoked during pregnancy fared worse on tests of cognitive ability not because of possible causal effects of smoking, but rather because these children tended to come from families which provided a relatively disadvantaged home environment.