Talking about Machines

An Ethnography of a Modern Job

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science, Politics, Labour & Industrial Relations, Social Science, Anthropology
Cover of the book Talking about Machines by Julian E. Orr, Cornell University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Julian E. Orr ISBN: 9781501707391
Publisher: Cornell University Press Publication: October 1, 2016
Imprint: ILR Press Language: English
Author: Julian E. Orr
ISBN: 9781501707391
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Publication: October 1, 2016
Imprint: ILR Press
Language: English

This is a story of how work gets done. It is also a study of how field service technicians talk about their work and how that talk is instrumental in their success. In his innovative ethnography, Julian E. Orr studies the people who repair photocopiers and shares vignettes from their daily lives. He characterizes their work as a continuous highly skilled improvisation within a triangular relationship of technician, customer, and machine.

The work technicians do encompasses elements not contained in the official definition of the job yet vital to its success. Orr's analysis of the way repair people talk about their work reveals that talk is, in fact, a crucial dimension of their practice. Diagnosis happens through a narrative process, the creation of a coherent description of the troubled machine. The descriptions become the basis for technicians' discourse about their experience, and the circulation of stories among the technicians is the principal means by which they stay informed of the developing subtleties of machine behavior. Orr demonstrates that technical knowledge is a socially distributed resource stored and diffused primarily through an oral culture.

Based on participant observation with copier repair technicians in the field and strengthened by Orr's own years as a technician, this book explodes numerous myths about technicians and suggests how technical work differs from other kinds of employment.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

This is a story of how work gets done. It is also a study of how field service technicians talk about their work and how that talk is instrumental in their success. In his innovative ethnography, Julian E. Orr studies the people who repair photocopiers and shares vignettes from their daily lives. He characterizes their work as a continuous highly skilled improvisation within a triangular relationship of technician, customer, and machine.

The work technicians do encompasses elements not contained in the official definition of the job yet vital to its success. Orr's analysis of the way repair people talk about their work reveals that talk is, in fact, a crucial dimension of their practice. Diagnosis happens through a narrative process, the creation of a coherent description of the troubled machine. The descriptions become the basis for technicians' discourse about their experience, and the circulation of stories among the technicians is the principal means by which they stay informed of the developing subtleties of machine behavior. Orr demonstrates that technical knowledge is a socially distributed resource stored and diffused primarily through an oral culture.

Based on participant observation with copier repair technicians in the field and strengthened by Orr's own years as a technician, this book explodes numerous myths about technicians and suggests how technical work differs from other kinds of employment.

More books from Cornell University Press

Cover of the book Rape during Civil War by Julian E. Orr
Cover of the book For Fear of an Elective King by Julian E. Orr
Cover of the book Rule of Darkness by Julian E. Orr
Cover of the book Dark Vanishings by Julian E. Orr
Cover of the book Healing Together by Julian E. Orr
Cover of the book Undoing Work, Rethinking Community by Julian E. Orr
Cover of the book Corruption as a Last Resort by Julian E. Orr
Cover of the book A Preface to Sartre by Julian E. Orr
Cover of the book The Fleeting Promise of Art by Julian E. Orr
Cover of the book Rigorism of Truth by Julian E. Orr
Cover of the book Hearing Allah’s Call by Julian E. Orr
Cover of the book Channels of Power by Julian E. Orr
Cover of the book Memories of War by Julian E. Orr
Cover of the book Tainted Souls and Painted Faces by Julian E. Orr
Cover of the book Hard Sell by Julian E. Orr
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy