Abstract
My contribution examines routines of cooperation. It investigates the ways and means in which cooperation is produced within the setting of contemporary employment. This line of questioning is based on two assumptions. Firstly, cooperation itself is the result of practical activities (see also Schüttpelz & Meyer, 2017). Cooperation is thus not simply given, but rather the result of various efforts (activities) and links (relations) that determine the specificity of the respective cooperation and its results.
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Notes
- 1.
The numerous studies on cooperation at the level of work organisation in the sociology of labour and industry are not included here. Paradigmatic of the German debate (and also of the self-image of the sociology of work and industry) are the studies on ‘structure-like cooperation’ (Popitz et al., 1957).
- 2.
In the English original, the title of the book is Together: The Rituals, Pleasures and Politics of Cooperation (2012).
- 3.
Here, by the way, a parallel can be drawn to the above-mentioned labour process debate, which, as soon as there is a stronger focus on corporate governance, locates itself in critical management studies (cf. Hassard et al., 2001).
- 4.
This field of research is quite heterogeneous and comprises a variety of different research approaches and paradigms. Depending on the boundaries, this field may also include work-related studies from the fields of human–computer interaction, ethnographic labour research and neo-pragmatism.
- 5.
Especially in the case of Studies of Work, these partly explicitly follow Garfinkel’s (1967) basic ethnomethodological considerations, according to which joint action in practice itself must first be established through numerous micro-practices that naturally accompany it, and cooperation thus represents a constitutive characteristic of interactions. Tomasello’s (2010) anthropological studies go one step further in this respect, in that he attributes to humans, in contrast to great apes, for example, the ability to cooperate as an exclusive characteristic.
- 6.
Double quotation marks refer to formulations from the field of investigation. Such formulations were collected through interviews, participant observation and document analysis.
- 7.
- 8.
See Schnaithmann in this volume.
- 9.
The data are presented here in a video transcript (VT), which means that the audiovisually recorded events are not transcribed, but described afterwards (see Schmidt, 2008, p. 287). As with field notes (FN), some aspects are emphasised more strongly, while others are omitted.
- 10.
Similarly, the use of headphones, usually large ones, can be interpreted as a method of minimising the willingness to cooperate. Robert Schmidt also observes this in his ethnography of work and interprets it as a ‘gesture of inapproachability’ (Schmidt, 2008, p. 288, trans. HK).
- 11.
The example given is a conversation recording for which field notes are also available. In the transcripts, empty single brackets indicate incomprehensible statements (), filled single brackets indicate the assumed wording (i.e.). Contextual references as well as para-linguistic means are indicated by double brackets (()). Square brackets indicate overlaps [Hello], single digits in brackets indicate the pause length in seconds (1.0), dashes indicate micro-pauses of about 0.25 s per stroke (–). Utterances where the speech breaks off are indicated by a simple hyphen (Cancel-). Contrary to common linguistic transcription conventions, the utterances have been transcribed in a written and orthographically correct manner to increase readability.
- 12.
The graphic designer does not ‘simply’ hold her hand over the graphic element (l. 7–8) but pulls it away from the element in a disparaging gesture.
- 13.
The computer programs that are frequently used in graphic design work are InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator, which are all distributed by the market leader, Adobe, in a typical program package, the so-called ‘Creative Suite’.
- 14.
Thus, in verbal interaction, too, the actors distinguish different approaches, so-called ‘lines’, on the basis of their visual form. These include the “leaf-line” (which main design element is a leaf) or the ‘car-line’ (which uses the outline of a motor vehicle for visualisation).
- 15.
For example, the use of communication technologies such as Skype, instant messaging or email was not discussed. Also excluded were those situations in which the computer is used for internal and external presentations.
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Krämer, H. (2023). Routines of Cooperation in Creative Work. In: Gießmann, S., Röhl, T., Trischler, R., Zillinger, M. (eds) Materiality of Cooperation. Medien der Kooperation – Media of Cooperation. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-39468-4_7
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