THE SOCIAL WORLD OF THE TOLL-COLLECTOR - A SOCIAL LOGICS ANALYSIS

This paper deals with the organizational and social world of toll-coll ectors. We will focus upon the formal and informal structure of a grou p of toll-collectors who work together in closely confined quarters do ing seemingly routine jobs. However, they are handling a wide variety of social situations both with the public, and each other. We find tha t what appears to be routine is not, and instead, generates a number o f special problems and organizational solutions.Social Logics analysis is used as an analytical device through out the paper. Social logics are clusters or (sets) of consistent rules or behaviors. In ongoing in teraction they are sequenced often one after another, or as in this st udy provide organizational logics as a backdrop against which interact ion is played out. In this case major organizational logics are bureau cratic and mechanical. The social logics are often played against each other as in the comic-degradation combination found here. These syste ms of logic rules or behaviors appear to be cross-cultural and sociobi ological, suppressed or enhanced according to each individual subcultu re (Parker, 1992). Also of interest here is the applicability of this logics analysis to more ordinary concepts such as status anxiety, terr itoriality and occupation (Blau, 1964).