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selves. For example GB who claims'die sollten nur Leute reinholen die
wirklich einen Arbeitsplatz haben' ['they should only let people in who really
have a job'] (lines 77-79) and notes that the current situation 'wird immer
schlimmer' ['is getting worse all the time'] (line 93), and KN who attempt to
introduce suggestion how the influx of Auslaenders into Germany might be
'anders geregelt' ['regulated differently'] (line 96).
In terms of alignment - as both ratification and support of mobilised
selves - agonised selves are clearly aligned and aligned positively over the
duration of the talk. As with 'Cookie's Party', this is manifest in both
conversational content and the sequential placement of selves over the flow
of 'Internationale Arbeitslosigkeit.
Again, as with the previous excerpts, within this primary framework of
positive alignment, participants are able to achieve some degree of negative
alignment. This is achieved in and through the mobilisation of another salient
aspect of German conversational selfhood and one I primarily associated
above with negative alignment, viz., the knowledgeable self. This is manifest
in the cumulative accruement of conversational facts by three of the four
participants. Although these claims primarily demonstrate a solidaric
alignment to a central agoniser, and although none are posited as counter-
propositional nor examined by another participant for their factual accuracy or
lack of clarity thereby leading to a more salient state of negative alignment
(Cf. 'Studeirein als Arbeitn' below), they do allow participants to display
individuated knowledge claims on a common theme. Indeed, it is almost pre-
requisite in German sociable conversation - even within primarily positively
aligned joint agonism contexts - to have a 'Meinung' [opinion'] or is some
way be able to suggest how the joint problematic invoked in the collective
alignment of agonised selves might be resolved, any such claims needing to
be credible and based on a clear understanding of the issue (see e. g. Kotthoff
1991; Friday 1994). Comparatively, one might find such individuated nuances
on a common theme analogous to that attempted by LM in her attempt to
introduce an individuated experience on a commonly experienced past reality
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