The study considers deontic rights from two different angles. First, it describes how participants in interaction may claim—or mitigate their claims of—deontic rights by virtue of their overt behavior, as they implicitly negotiate the purpose and agenda of their joint interaction, discuss future actions, and make decisions about them. Second, it discusses the ways in which participants may deploy their deontic rights as interactional resources, as they design their communicative actions so as to be recognizable as such; instead of always needing to claim their deontic rights, participants may also trust in their co-participants being aware of, and taking into account, these rights. The study shows how such expectations of cooperation constitute a fundamental mechanism by which people may engage in tough power negotiations without yet causing any overt threats to their mutual solidarity.

The study highlights the significance of face-to-face interaction as a locus of social order and seeks to enhance our understanding of the linkages between the local and wider aspects of social organization that pertain to people’s interactional conduct.