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Lies, defeasibility and morality-in-action : the interactional architecture of false claims in sales, telemarketing and debt collection work
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Llewellyn, Nick and Whittle, A. J. (2019) Lies, defeasibility and morality-in-action : the interactional architecture of false claims in sales, telemarketing and debt collection work. Human Relations, 72 (4). pp. 834-858. doi:10.1177/0018726718778093 ISSN 0018-7267.
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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726718778093
Abstract
Lying is known to be endemic in a range of business settings. However, to date studies have not analysed how lies surface, and are spontaneously managed, in ‘real time’ interaction. Drawing on video and audio recordings, in this paper we analyse how actors account for false claims produced in different settings, namely sales, telemarketing and debt collection. Drawing on resources from ethnomethodology and conversation analysis, lies are conceptualised as products of interactional organization, rather than, say, products of the mind or motives of social actors. Our analysis reveals the centrality of ‘epistemics’ for understanding how people handle, and seek to neutralise, the moral risks associated with false claims. Potential accusations of ‘lying’ are shown to be defeasible in light of claims that the speaker has ‘discovered’, ‘noticed’ or ‘remembered’ some pertinent detail. We recover practices through which false claims are transformed, with varying degrees of success, from nefarious to innocent accountings. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings for wider questions about the reproduction of work cultures that rely upon deceit.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||||
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Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BJ Ethics H Social Sciences > HF Commerce |
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Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Warwick Business School | ||||||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Truthfulness and falsehood, Sales, Sales personnel, Telemarketing, Collection agencies | ||||||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Human Relations | ||||||||
Publisher: | Sage Publications Ltd. | ||||||||
ISSN: | 0018-7267 | ||||||||
Official Date: | 1 April 2019 | ||||||||
Dates: |
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Volume: | 72 | ||||||||
Number: | 4 | ||||||||
Page Range: | pp. 834-858 | ||||||||
DOI: | 10.1177/0018726718778093 | ||||||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||||||
Reuse Statement (publisher, data, author rights): | Llewellyn, N., & Whittle, A. (2019). Lies, defeasibility and morality-in-action: The interactional architecture of false claims in sales, telemarketing and debt collection work. Human Relations, 72(4), 834–858. Copyright © 2018 The Author(s). Reprinted by permission of SAGE Publications https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726718778093 | ||||||||
Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | ||||||||
Date of first compliant deposit: | 9 April 2018 | ||||||||
Date of first compliant Open Access: | 12 June 2018 | ||||||||
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