Critical Discourse Analysis

Michel Foucault ( ) French philosopher who studied the historical development of pathological discourse and sexuality. Outlined how Western European society developed Psychology as a technology which utilizes 'normality' and 'abnormality' as forms of social control and regulation. To understand psychological ‘development’ we need to be able to understand how we have come to talk and think about ourselves and others as we do through the historical analysis of power relations.

Critical Discourse Analysis We reproduce power relations and knowledge through written and spoken language. The analysis of ‘text’ allows us to consider what knowledge and relations are being reproduced. Language becomes normalized and assumes a status quo which can be deconstructed through critical analysis.

Critical Discourse Analysis Discourse: A system of statements which construct an ‘object’ (Parker, 1992). Not merely a label or language, but a system which produces something that does not exist before: Examples: Pathology or madness Racist identities Gender identities

Critical Discourse Analysis What objects are being defined and how? What subjects are being defined and how? What is being assumed about how different actors should or should not act? Who has the right to speak and what is not being said or allowed to speak? How do these discourses relate to other discourses?

Critical Discourse Analysis Does this way of speaking refer to itself? How has this way of speaking emerged historically? Does this way of speaking define certain things as always existing? Which institutions are supported or not in this way of speaking? Who stands to lose or gain by this way of speaking? What type of power relations are reproduced or subverted in this way of speaking?

Foucault... Example: When a psychologist says to a patient that he/she has a particular diagnosis this is an example of power relations. If the patient disagrees he may be seen as oppositional and evidence may be used to 'convince' him of what he 'really' is or has.

Critical Discourse Analysis What is technology? ch?v=qaOvHKG0Tio ch?v=qaOvHKG0Tio ch?v=dIzw6KKZLgA ch?v=dIzw6KKZLgA

CRASH: Buying a ‘gun’

NEOLIBERAL SUBJECT 1. FREE 2. Is responsible for his/her successes and failures. 3. Is competitive and not responsible for the fate of his competition. Believes in evolutionary and survival of the fittest Privatization is better than Public Services in most cases Corporate competition produces the best society.

Alternatives to mainstream pathological discourse Who has the right to define who you are and what you are experiencing? 'The personal is political' (Feminist slogan). Hearing Voices Network Eleanor Longden 'The voices in my head' d d