Abstract
This article examines the political and ideological processes that underlie the ritual event of a weekly gathering of Heads of Section at a British embassy. Relying on participant observation, audio recordings, and interviews, it juxtaposes participants' assumptions and projections about the meeting's symbolic role in achieving democratic ideals (community participation, status equality) with evidence of a battle zone, an arena for status contests and participants maneuvering for position. It explores this contrast on multiple levels of discourse and interaction, using transcripts from interviews and interaction during the meetings. It demonstrates not only the ritualistic importance of meetings in consolidating the powers that be but also the duality of the discourse around them, with a proclaimed ideology of shared power, shared knowledge, and equal opportunities masking and covering up an authority-based system promoting status differences and inequality.
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