Overview

Each year art and antiques worth many billions of pounds are sold at auction. These auctions consist of numerous, intense episodes of social interaction through which the price of goods rapidly escalates until sold on the strike of a hammer. In this book, Christian Heath examines the fine details of interaction that arises at auctions, the talk and visible conduct of the participants and their use of various tools and technologies. He explores how auctioneers, buyers and their representatives are able to transact the sale of diversely priced goods in just seconds. Heath addresses how order, trust and competition are established at auctions and demonstrates how an economic institution of some global importance is founded upon embodied action and interaction. The analysis is based on video recordings of sales of art and antiques gathered within a range of national and international auction houses in Europe and the United States.

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9781139024020

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Reviews

Christian Heath has written a wonderfully engaging and detailed account of how auctions are practically accomplished. The book provides a methodologically sophisticated investigation of a financially significant business activity. In so doing if offers an exemplary study of social interaction in a workplace setting. It will be of considerable interest to scholars and students of work and organizations, and everyone concerned with the practical application of ethnomethodology, conversation analysis and interaction analysis. Tom Horlick-Jones, Cardiff University, Symbolic Interaction The video analysis and the description of the activities is exquisitely done ... a wonderful example of video analysis from one its pioneers. K. Neil Jenkings, Newcastle University, BSA Network

The video analysis and the description of the activities is exquisitely done ... a wonderful example of video analysis from one its pioneers. K. Neil Jenkings, Newcastle University, BSA Network

Author Information

Christian Heath is Professor at the Work, Interaction and Technology Research Centre, Department of Management, King's College London.

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