This book outlines the specific character of the ethnomethodological approach to 'play'; that is, to everyday sport and leisure activities that people generally engage in for enjoyment, at home or as a 'hobby'. With chapters on cooking, running, playing music, dancing, rock climbing, sailing, fly fishing and going out for the day as a family, Ethnomethodology at Play provides an introduction to the key conceptual resources drawn upon by ethnomethodology in its studies of these activities, whilst exploring the manner in which people 'work' at their everyday leisure. Demonstrating the breadth of ethnomethodological analysis and showing how no topic is beyond ethnomethodology's fundamental respecification, Ethnomethodology at Play sets out for the serious reader and researcher the precise contribution of ethnomethodology to sociological studies of sport and leisure and ordinary domestic pastimes. As such this groundbreaking volume constitutes a significant contribution to both ethnomethodology and sociology in general, as well as to the sociology of sport and leisure, the sociology of domestic and daily life and cultural studies.
Biography
Peter Tolmie is Senior Research Fellow in the School of Computer Science and IT at the University of Nottingham, UK, and co-editor of Ethnomethodology at Work. Mark Rouncefield is Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Computing at Lancaster University, UK, and co-editor of Ethnomethodology at Work.
’A delightful set of essays that reveal the intricacies, the complexities of play and pleasure and provide a highly distinctive contribution to our understanding of the expertise and sensibilities that underpin sporting, leisure and cultural activities.' Christian Heath, King’s College London, UK ’Between sociologists wanting to look at the social benefits of and cultural theorists critiquing the sexuality of games as a source of domination, one is left wondering what actually gets done when people play. This collection is one of the first to look at just this. Tolmie and Rouncefield’s book is highly recommended for anyone interested in the empirical study of play and games in society.’ Richard Harper, Microsoft Research Cambridge, UK '... the text is filled with insightful examples of the mundane work of doing leisure activities. The sociality of these activities is amply illustrated in these constitutive ethnographies. The text stands as an exemplar of the ethnomethodological analytic mentality and shows phenomenon in the course of its being done, unalloyed by some theoretical perspective that serves to lose the phenomenon it trades on. As such I would strongly recommend it as essential to anyone who is serious about the worldly accomplishment of leisure activities.' Symbolic Interaction
