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Tenant-Landlord Conflict: Goffman’s Interaction Ritual Applied (I of III)

© Valerie Borey

Thanks to a recent neighborhood drama that unfolded right before my eyes, I had the opportunity to view up close what anthropologist and sociologist Erving Goffman would have called a character contest between a local tenant and landlord. As Goffman notes in his essay, Where the action is, the character contest is "a special kind of moral game" (1967, p. 240) because it is concerned with discrediting the adversary while at the same time gathering evidence in support of one's own strength or goodness of character.

The character contest is a high stakes game that initially gets framed as a conflict over money, services, or expectations, but ends up becoming "a matter of principle." What is at issue is not a dollar amount or a deadline, but a boundary of self and definition of face.

The story below is a particularly interesting example of such a contest, because it engages several dimensions of self-definition. From the landlord's perspective, it is a contest that challenges his professional standing as a developer and businessman, his ethical stance as a human being, as well as his kin relationship to the owner and territorial relationship to the property in question. From Wendy's perspective, what was at stake was not only her own territorial relationship to her private residence, but also her standing in the neighborhood as a tenant, a mother, and a partner.

Note: All names and identifying information have been changed to protect the people and properties depicted below. This story was relayed to me by "Wendy," a young, middle-class, college educated mother of one who had for several months been struggling with the new owner and manager of Marriet Valley Apartments. The property had been purchased with the intention of converting the apartments into condominiums and, like many of the tenants in the building, Wendy felt that the landlord Parker Jarlson was trying to intimidate and pressure tenants so that they would move out early and construction could be speeded up.

The stage for final negotiations with the landlord was set in the temporary sales office located on the first floor of the building. This was the first time that all parties had met together in person on official terms, although they had been communicating over the phone and in writing for months. There was an attempt by both parties to set a casual, friendly tone to the meeting, perhaps with the intention of catching the adversary off guard. There was also a specific attempt to contain the terms and information placed up for discussion

The copyright of the article Tenant-Landlord Conflict: Goffman’s Interaction Ritual Applied (I of III) in Anthropology is owned by Valerie Borey. Permission to republish Tenant-Landlord Conflict: Goffman’s Interaction Ritual Applied (I of III) in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.