Hybrid Studies, Revisited: Work, Talk, and Technology as Thriving EM/CA Research Fields*

• In Event: Research in Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis: Advances in Ethnomethodological Theory and Practices

Abstract

Our paper revisits and advances “hybrid studies” (Garfinkel 2002) that probe the nexus of work, talk, and technology. We discern and formulate a perspective for hybrid studies as thriving research fields in contemporary EM/CA and related fields (e.g., media studies, human–computer interaction, STS), whose potential has not yet been fully explored. Contrary to positions that have been downplaying the “large prize” of hybrid studies, or complaints about “broken promises” or “convoluted theory”, our contribution proposes to take hybrid studies seriously. Starting from how they have been and are currently done, we will focus on the various ways they can be further developed. By this, we do not suggest to ignore the intricacies, ambivalences, and potential troubles of hybrid studies, but to re-specify them as productive and diverse means for doing EM/CA in each particular case. We focus on studies of practical action and practical reasoning in “naturally organized ordinary activities,” “studies of work” and “the workplace,” studies of “talk-in-interaction,” and their relationships, and/or their contribution(s) to the development, testing, deployment, or critique of communicative and other technologies. The aim is to specify discipline-specific work practices in the context of digital technology, AI, workplaces and the sciences, e.g., medicine and healthcare. We will also present some of the outcomes of the New Developments in Ethnomethodology 2026 conference that engages with “hybrid studies” as its primary concern. We relate this discussion to three classic ethnomethodological themes: (i) the unique adequacy requirement of methods, (ii) tutorial problems, and (iii) discovering work; not as static principles, but as each-next-first-time re-specifiable and flexible ‘tools and perspectives’ for doing EM/CA in current empirical settings. Finally, we discuss how “hybrid studies”, often seen as a distinctive domain of EM, are inherently and intriguingly related to and of relevance for CA and vice versa.

Authors

• Clemens Eisenmann, University of Konstanz

• Jakub Mlynár, HES-SO Valais-Wallis University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland

• Philippe Sormani, University of Siegen, CRC 1187 Media of Cooperation, Germany