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in 'Cookie's Party'- again, a secondary negative alignment within a primarily
positively aligned context.
Overall then, what is achieved primarily in 'Internationalle
Arbeitslosogkeit by the positive alignment of agonised selves is what plays
itself out conversationally as German agonistic conversation.
As I noted above then, this particular piece of sociable conversation is
somewhat skewed towards the positive end of the alignment spectrum.
Solidarity and sameness of beliefs, viewpoints and definitions are expressed
in and through the collective and reciprocal alignment of essentially agonised
selves.
What evidence is there then of 'Internationale Arbeitslosigkeit' being
equilibric? In discussing 'Cookie's Party' earlier, I noted that equilibrium was
achieved in the way the conversation was handled in general, and more
specifically in terms of how sociable selves were mobilised and aligned in the
process of mutual ratification and support. The same set of equilibric practices
can be seen to be operating in 'Internationale Arbeitslosigkeit'. First, similar to
'Cookie's Party' and as with all four episodes considered here, this piece of
talk is 'typical' of the way in which German participants handle talk in sociable
episodes, and in particular the way in which agonisers are handled.
'Internationale Arbeitslosigkeit' is quite generally clearly recognisable talk
about Arbeitslosigkeit and Auslaenders. Second, again similar to'Cookie's
Party', there is a salient preference towards solidarity in terms of how the
problem of Arbeitslosigkeit is defined, and how equally it is evaluated. There
is then a definitional and evaluative working consensus underlying the talk.
More importantly though is not the support of conversational claims, but the
ratification of mobilised sociable selves. In 'Internationale Arbeitslosigkeit'
participants are clearly working towards mobilising and ratifying agonised
selves as players. In this sense, mutual ratification and support of sociable
selves is achieved primarily in and through the mobilisation of similar selves,
that is, participants collective mobilise both agonised selves not only to allow
participants to make their own conversational claims, but to support those
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