Abstract
The paper reports findings from an ethnographic study of work practice at the International Monetary Fund, in Washington, DC. In particular, it describes the mission process, drawing attention to important aspects of social organisation in that process. These aspects, relating to social validation, ritual, and the moral (as against the arithmetical) transformation of numbers, are crucial to understanding the nature of missions and what role new technologies might play in them.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Button, G. and Sharrock, W. (1993). “A Disagreement over Agreement and Consensus in Constructionist Sociology, Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, Vol. 23. No. 1, pp. 1–25.
Harper, R.H.R., (1997). Inside the IMF: An Ethnography of Documents, Technology and Organisational Action, Academic Press, London & San Diego.
Harper, R. H. R. (1995). “The Faces of Information Work: Collaborative Tools, Information, and Organisational Symbols”, Proceedings, Colloquium on Workplace Studies, King’s College, London, August 7–8th.
Harper, R.H.R. & Sellen, A.J, (1995). “Collaborative Tools and the Practicalities of Professional Work at the International Monetary Fund,” Proceedings, of CHI’95. Denver, Colorado, May 7–11th, pp. 122–129.
Heath, C., Sellen, A.J., & Luff, P. (1995). “Rethinking the Virtual Workplace: The Need for Flexible Access in Video-Mediated Communication.” Proceedings of ECSCW ‘85, Stockholm, Sweden, pp. 83–100.
Kent, C. & Harper, R.H.R. (1994). Portable Porthole Pads: An Investigation into the Use of a Ubicomp Device to Support the Sociality of Work,Rank Xerox Technical Report EPC1994–110, Rank Xerox Research Centre, 61 Regent Street, Cambridge, CB2 lAB.
Lave, J. (1986). “The Values of Quantification”, in Law, J. (Ed) Power, Action and Belief, Rout-ledge, London, pp. 88–111.
Lévi-Strauss, C. (1962). The Savage Mind. Weidenfield and Nicolson, London.
Porter, T. M. (1995). Trust in Numbers: The Pursuit of Objectivity in Science and Public Life, Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey.
Sellen, A.J. & Harper, R.H.R. (1997). “Paper as an Analytic Resource for the Design of New Technologies”, Proceedings of CHI ‘87, Atlanta, GA., March 25–27, pp. 319–326.
Sellen, A.J. & Harper, R.H.R. (1996). “Can Workflow Tools Support Knowledge Work? A Case Study of the International Monetary Fund,” Rank Xerox Technical Report, Rank Xerox Research Centre, 61 Regent Street, Cambridge, CB2 IAB.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1997 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Harper, R.H.R. (1997). Gatherers of Information: The Mission Process at the International Monetary Fund. In: Proceedings of the Fifth European Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-7372-6_24
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-7372-6_24
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-015-7374-0
Online ISBN: 978-94-015-7372-6
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive