Space invaders: the moral-spatial order in neighbour dispute discourse

This paper investigates the interactional construction of neighbour relationships in the context of disputational talk. Neighbour dispute data were recorded in two contexts: community mediation and televised documentaries. The data were transcribed and subsequently analysed using an approach that combined ethnomethodological methods with discursive psychology, focusing on participants' orientations to and constructions of spatial categories and place formulations. Three broad themes emerged from our analysis. First, we found that the construction and regulation of normative neighbour relationships were formulated in a discourse of spatial practice. Second, we found that, through complaints about spatial transgressions and 'good' and 'bad' neighbours, the moral order was reproduced and maintained. Finally, we found that, although participants were oriented to a distinction between 'private' and 'public' spaces, talk about boundaries revealed the highly contingent nature of spatial division. We suggest that in order to better understand neighbour relationships, social psychologists must explore the way people construct and account for the spaces they interact within.