ABSTRACT
This chapter is the first of two chapters that form Part II of this volume. Together, these chapters consider developments in contemporary conversation analysis (CA) in light of two defining characteristics of the field as founded by Sacks: (1) the investigation of the autonomous structures of conversation and (2) the use of a distinctive mode of technical analysis for investigating such structures. The present chapter begins by describing how Sacks developed CA as an investigation of the autonomous structures of conversation, which members actualise on particular occasions of speaking, and listening. We argue that Sacks’ treatment represents a radical departure from constructive analytic approaches in sociology and other social sciences. The chapter then critically discusses two prominent developments in contemporary CA: “feminist conversation analysis”, and the metaphor of an “epistemic engine” as an analytical device. The discussion elaborates how both developments, in distinctive ways, trade on constructive analysis.
