Situated socio-material assemblages: assemmethodology in the making

Abstract

This article proposes the concept of assemmethodology, which combines assemblage theory and ethnomethodology. Relating to the ongoing studies in sociomateriality, this article advances our understanding of the details of social conduct and the consequentiality of materials. By explicating the role of the situation and its processual becoming, which is inherent in ethnomethodology, and by replacing the unit of analysis from the individual to the assemblage made up of heterogenous elements, this article contributes to communication research that seeks to advance our understanding of the ways in which humans are entangled with the material world. As a perspicuous case for the study of assemmethodology, this article explores situations in which screens are assembled with humans and other materials in social situations. The article uses these examples to highlight the necessity of maintaining a focus on the situated emergence of socio-material orders as a property of the activity.