The concept of "identity" attracts some of social science's liveliest and most passionate debate. Theory abounds on matters as disparate as nationhood, ethnicity, gender politics and culture. However, there is less literature on how such identity issues appear in the fine grain of everyday life. This text gathers together, in a collection of chapters drawng on ethnomethodology and conversation analysis, arguments which show that identities are constructed "live" in the exchange of talk. By closely examining tapes and transcripts of real social interactions from a wide range of situations, this volume examines how it is that a person can be ascribed to a category and what features about that category are consequential for the interaction.