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Abstract
The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the micro-interactional processes by which powerful and powerless identities are locally reconstructed. The article specifically examines the interplay between consent and resistance to law-breaking identities. Data consist of transcripts of 45 incidents in which highway patrol officers issue traffic citations. These traffic stops are initiated by the officer's explanation of the citation. The second move, which is initiated by the driver, involves consent to the officer's authority but also forms of resistance to the law-breaking identity. In the third move, the officer reframes the conversation in terms of the officer's state authority and the laws of traffic. Civilians' accounts are analyzed in terms of footing shifts and Goffman's product format roles, offering a glimpse into the negotiation of power and agency between the participants.
Notes
1Interestingly, the account is not necessary in terms of the institutional nature of the talk. In OT, accounts are used to mitigate threats to face. In this type of institutional encounter, the question of mitigating face is superfluous.
2See also Schegloff's article on “Can I ask you a CitationQuestion?” (1980) as a preliminary to holding the floor.