Reviews

Given its exploratory nature, this collection is successful in highlighting the theoretical as well as methodological implications of analysing responsibility in situated interactions that take place in professional settings. The work is therefore an excellent reference, directing readers (particularly researchers and professional practitioners in language studies and other fields) to approach professional discourse from the perspective of responsibility. Although the articles vary slightly in their respective treatment of responsibility in discourse, the volume as a whole provides a rich inter-disciplinary, and multi-cultural description of the topic.
Pragmatics and Society


This book represents a welcome advance in theoretical sociolinguistic analysis in professional workplaces. Its focus on responsibility in the professions is timely and important considering the reductionist attention to individual responsibility undergirding dominant political discourses and the widespread codification of professional responsibility in workplaces. Whereas there has been ample critical analysis of these developments in academia, there is a clear need for further investigation of their enactment in practice.
Current well-established theoretical perspectives on discursively constructed identities and positioning underpin this publication, extending the work of other research in this broader area. Its strengths lie in the contributing authors’ careful unpacking of responsibility as it is enacted dynamically across contexts in multiple workplaces. Their analyses will resonate strongly with readers’ own knowledge of professional workplaces across many sectors.
Discourse Studies


[Brings] important contributions ... by investigating the discursive construal of responsibility, a central theme in organizational contexts. The combination of theoretical exploration and real-world cases ... is a welcome addition to the body of knowledge about discursive practice in professional settings.
Discourse and Communication