thomas conroy | Lehman College of CUNY (original) (raw)

Papers by thomas conroy


Everyday life as a sociological/philosophical concept is widely considered to be both a familiar ... more Everyday life as a sociological/philosophical concept is widely considered to be both a familiar and yet taken-for-granted subject matter for analytic investigation. In considering the works of three leading scholars, Michel de Certeau, Harold Garfinkel and John Fiske, one can look toward possible referents to this term. Starting with Certeau’s critical semiotics of the everyday, with its emphasis on such distinctions as place and space as well as strategies and tactics, the everyday can be theorized in terms of contrasts between discourse and practice. Similarly, with Garfinkel’s ethnomethodological emphasis on the practical actor, and Fiske’s ethnographic and cultural studies emphasis on local meaning, the everyday can be conceptualized in terms of distinctions between lived order and a theorized version of the everyday. examining the approaches of these three scholars as well as drawing upon a visual examination of everyday urban scenes, the paper concludes with an affirmation of a multi-conceptual and methodological approach to the everyday and with a recognition of the everyday as a signifier, loaded with a multitude of possibly overlapping meanings.

Human Studies, Jan 1, 1999

This paper examines an excerpt from a larger (televised) interview, wherein various married coupl... more This paper examines an excerpt from a larger (televised) interview, wherein various married couples are asked to characterize their living situations in the aftermath of job loss and on the work of description and assessment by interview parties. It thus focuses on features of affiliation and disaffiliation and analyzes how both procedures work, particularly within an environment in which affiliated parties are engaged in attempting to figure out an "unpredictable" outcome of some (mutually experienced or experienceable) situation. In the excerpt, there are instances of both affiliation and disaffiliation. Using such conversation analytic structures as topic organization, story organization, preference structures, and distinguishing between content and structural affiliations, the interview excerpt is shown to contain a series of story stages, each of which is an element of the overall work of collaborative assessment. Within this assessment, parties make use of "content affiliations," wherein they reference their lived affiliation with one another, while at the same time, structuring their talk so as to disagree and disaffiliate with one another's stance. In contrast to such classical theorists as Durkheim, Simmel, Toennies and Cooley, who viewed affiliation as resulting from internal, emotive sources, or as Durkheim put it, saw this as being a non-directly measurable condition of "primary group" relationships, this report argues for the possibility of seeing affiliation as a performed, or achieved, activity. In this latter conception, one made evident through ethnomethodology and conversation analysis, affiliation -along with its counterpart, disaffiliation, are indeed external and measurable actions.

Weaving Knowledge Together: …, Jan 1, 2004

Like many collaborations, this chapter grew out of many conversations. Unlike some collaborations... more Like many collaborations, this chapter grew out of many conversations. Unlike some collaborations, however, this one was among three graduatestudent writing tutors. The issues we discuss—how the roles of tutor, teacher, and student overlap and conflict around the topic of" expert knowledge" and whether tutors can be thought of as" professionals"—are concerns perhaps more germane to graduate students than to undergraduate peer tutors. On the verge of simultaneously joining academic departments as full-fledged members ...

American Behavioral Scientist, Jan 1, 2011

Hip-hop permeates modern global society, and yet, there remains remain various divisions within i... more Hip-hop permeates modern global society, and yet, there remains remain various divisions within it. Following up on an interdisciplinary academic conference, the Lehman Conference on Hip-Hop, this special issue highlights a number of aspects in hip-hop's development, and looks toward an ever increasing globalization of what was, initially, a neighborhood based cultural practice. The authors assembled here examine hip-hop within such contexts as social protest, entertainment, and identity formation, and also as a response to dominant structures, such as race, gender inequality, and capitalism. Their investigations consider hip-hop's roots and branches, and its connections to politics, culture and consumption. This special issue also focuses, in detail, at some of hip-hop's many practices, raising questions about its use for expressing the thorny topics of race, class, national identity, gender and sexuality. But the overall theme is one, which was expressed in the conference's initial theme: from local to global practice. It is this process, in particular, which we are attempting to better understand. We are also particularly concerned to explore ways marginal groups within hip-hop and the larger society, like LGBTQ communities (especially of color) and women of color also use hip-hop as a form of protest to critique social ills.

This paper considers culture ± i.e., speeches, texts, performances, works of art, works of entert... more This paper considers culture ± i.e., speeches, texts, performances, works of art, works of entertainment, etc.


Everyday life as a sociological/philosophical concept is widely considered to be both a familiar ... more Everyday life as a sociological/philosophical concept is widely considered to be both a familiar and yet taken-for-granted subject matter for analytic investigation. In considering the works of three leading scholars, Michel de Certeau, Harold Garfinkel and John Fiske, one can look toward possible referents to this term. Starting with Certeau’s critical semiotics of the everyday, with its emphasis on such distinctions as place and space as well as strategies and tactics, the everyday can be theorized in terms of contrasts between discourse and practice. Similarly, with Garfinkel’s ethnomethodological emphasis on the practical actor, and Fiske’s ethnographic and cultural studies emphasis on local meaning, the everyday can be conceptualized in terms of distinctions between lived order and a theorized version of the everyday. examining the approaches of these three scholars as well as drawing upon a visual examination of everyday urban scenes, the paper concludes with an affirmation of a multi-conceptual and methodological approach to the everyday and with a recognition of the everyday as a signifier, loaded with a multitude of possibly overlapping meanings.

Human Studies, Jan 1, 1999

This paper examines an excerpt from a larger (televised) interview, wherein various married coupl... more This paper examines an excerpt from a larger (televised) interview, wherein various married couples are asked to characterize their living situations in the aftermath of job loss and on the work of description and assessment by interview parties. It thus focuses on features of affiliation and disaffiliation and analyzes how both procedures work, particularly within an environment in which affiliated parties are engaged in attempting to figure out an "unpredictable" outcome of some (mutually experienced or experienceable) situation. In the excerpt, there are instances of both affiliation and disaffiliation. Using such conversation analytic structures as topic organization, story organization, preference structures, and distinguishing between content and structural affiliations, the interview excerpt is shown to contain a series of story stages, each of which is an element of the overall work of collaborative assessment. Within this assessment, parties make use of "content affiliations," wherein they reference their lived affiliation with one another, while at the same time, structuring their talk so as to disagree and disaffiliate with one another's stance. In contrast to such classical theorists as Durkheim, Simmel, Toennies and Cooley, who viewed affiliation as resulting from internal, emotive sources, or as Durkheim put it, saw this as being a non-directly measurable condition of "primary group" relationships, this report argues for the possibility of seeing affiliation as a performed, or achieved, activity. In this latter conception, one made evident through ethnomethodology and conversation analysis, affiliation -along with its counterpart, disaffiliation, are indeed external and measurable actions.

Weaving Knowledge Together: …, Jan 1, 2004

Like many collaborations, this chapter grew out of many conversations. Unlike some collaborations... more Like many collaborations, this chapter grew out of many conversations. Unlike some collaborations, however, this one was among three graduatestudent writing tutors. The issues we discuss—how the roles of tutor, teacher, and student overlap and conflict around the topic of" expert knowledge" and whether tutors can be thought of as" professionals"—are concerns perhaps more germane to graduate students than to undergraduate peer tutors. On the verge of simultaneously joining academic departments as full-fledged members ...

American Behavioral Scientist, Jan 1, 2011

Hip-hop permeates modern global society, and yet, there remains remain various divisions within i... more Hip-hop permeates modern global society, and yet, there remains remain various divisions within it. Following up on an interdisciplinary academic conference, the Lehman Conference on Hip-Hop, this special issue highlights a number of aspects in hip-hop's development, and looks toward an ever increasing globalization of what was, initially, a neighborhood based cultural practice. The authors assembled here examine hip-hop within such contexts as social protest, entertainment, and identity formation, and also as a response to dominant structures, such as race, gender inequality, and capitalism. Their investigations consider hip-hop's roots and branches, and its connections to politics, culture and consumption. This special issue also focuses, in detail, at some of hip-hop's many practices, raising questions about its use for expressing the thorny topics of race, class, national identity, gender and sexuality. But the overall theme is one, which was expressed in the conference's initial theme: from local to global practice. It is this process, in particular, which we are attempting to better understand. We are also particularly concerned to explore ways marginal groups within hip-hop and the larger society, like LGBTQ communities (especially of color) and women of color also use hip-hop as a form of protest to critique social ills.

This paper considers culture ± i.e., speeches, texts, performances, works of art, works of entert... more This paper considers culture ± i.e., speeches, texts, performances, works of art, works of entertainment, etc.