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INTERACTION IN ISOLATION: THE DISLOCATED WORLD OF THE LONDON UNDERGROUND TRAIN DRIVER

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 1999

CHRISTIAN HEATH
Affiliation:
King's College, University of London, Campden Hill Road, Kensington, London, W8 7AH, England
JON HINDMARSH
Affiliation:
King's College, University of London, Campden Hill Road, Kensington, London, W8 7AH, England
PAUL LUFF
Affiliation:
King's College, University of London, Campden Hill Road, Kensington, London, W8 7AH, England
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Abstract

We have recently witnessed the emergence of a range of naturalistic studies concerned with work, interaction and technology in complex organisational environments. In this paper we examine a seemingly individual and isolated activity, which involves the use of relatively basic technology to guide a vehicle in accord with a highly regulated signalling system. The paper considers the ways in which operating a vehicle is systematically co-ordinated with the actions of others. These actions, whether by passengers or colleagues, are only ‘visible’ by virtue of various technologies; technologies that offer restricted and even distorted access to people and their conduct. In one sense, therefore, the essay is concerned with explicating the socially organised and interactionally sensitive ‘intelligence’ which features in the day-to-day work of drivers on London Underground; a rapid urban transport system which carries more than a million passengers a day.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1999 BSA Publications Ltd

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