Inquiring into arresting moments over time: Towards an understanding of stability within change

摘要

The aim of this paper is to contribute to current knowledge about special moments - what is referred to as "arresting moments" - when something unexpected spontaneously occurs, by exploring how such moments are part of a dialogic flow taking place over time. Based on a collaborative study that has been going on for 15 years and Bakhtin's work on dialogic forces, the paper contributes with a conceptualization of "stability within change," which shows how arresting moments not only create newness but also a sense of stability; a strong feeling of knowing how to meet the future and thereby how to move on here and now. Thus, it is not a question of stability or change, but rather an intertwined manifold of opposing forces of stability within change. Implications for practice and research are elaborated upon. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.