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Discourse Analysis GEOG 5161: Research Design

Discourse Analysis GEOG 5161: Research Design. Lindsay Skog February 21, 2011. What is discourse?. Conventional definition: Related groupings of writing and speech (Waitt 2005)

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Discourse Analysis GEOG 5161: Research Design

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  1. Discourse AnalysisGEOG 5161: Research Design Lindsay Skog February 21, 2011

  2. What is discourse? • Conventional definition: Related groupings of writing and speech (Waitt 2005) • Constructivist approach: Structures of language, shaping behavior and thought, not as expressions of an essential ‘real’, but as constitutive of it. (Waitt 2005)

  3. What is discourse analysis? • Hermeneutical approach using content analysis, semiology, and iconography to explore texts and statements as expressions of reality (Lees 2004) • Analysis of textual content revealing the hegemonic arguments • Foucauldian Discourse Analysis • Discourse is constructive of objects rather than a reflection of them (Lees 2004) • Texts are not meaningful in and of themselves, they are situated in relation to other texts (Waitt 2005). • Textual analysis largely ignores the social setting of the text. (Shurmer-Smith 2002) • In practice, these two are combined (Lees 2004)

  4. What is Foucauldian discourse analysis? • Moves beyond analysis of texts ands statements to understand their effects on actions, perceptions, and attitudes (Waitt 2005) • Uncovers the “regulatory frameworks within which groups of statements are produced, circulated, and communicated” (Waitt 2005,165) • Reveals the support maintaining those regulatory frameworks and presenting groups of statements as ‘truth’ (Waitt 2005) • Multiple structures working simultaneously (Shurmer-Smith 2002)

  5. Foucauldian concepts • Episteme:the ways in which discourse operates to limit what may be studied and in what ways, as well as what counts as knowledge • Archaeology: the conditions allowing for certain practices to come into existence • Genealogy:subjects are not fixed, identity performance is influenced by many discursive constructs. Identity is always negotiated and influences our understanding of the world (Waitt 2005) • Power: circulating everywhere and in constant negotiation • Regime of truth: the power structure that allows for a hegemonic discourse • Power/knowledge (Foucault 1978)

  6. Doing discourse analysis • Sources: Interviews, archival material, newspapers, visual materials, observation • Understand the positionality of the author, the intended audience, and the circumstances under which the text was produced (Waitt 2005) • Two objectives (Lees 2004) • Situate the discourse in its social setting • Analysis the rhetoric of the discourse

  7. Doing discourse analysis (cont.) • With practice discourse analysis becomes intuitive. The process is left implicit, rather than being made explicit (Waitt 2005) • Seven steps—just a guide (Waitt 2005, citing Rose 2001) • Think outside pre-existing coding categories • Become thoroughly familiar with the text • Code with an eye toward the ways in which the author/producer is situated in a particular discursive framework • How is this text presenting ‘truth’? • Inconsistencies? • In what ways is the text silencing? • Pay attention to details

  8. When is Foucauldian discourse analysis appropriate? • Best used to understand the effects of discourse and power/knowledge structures that shape ‘truths’ about human-environment relationships and inform social justice; investigating “moral and political questions about contemporary societies” (Waitt 2005, 188) • Discourse analysis should be the first step in action research, rather than an end point (Lees 2004)

  9. Strengths and Weaknesses • Waitt (2005) identifies the strength in this analysis as its ability to reveal the power relationships informing thoughts and actions. • While Foucault gave us a strong theoretical framework for discourse analysis, he did not provide a methodological framework • Methodology is not explicit and therefore more difficult to follow

  10. Examples • World Bank-style development (Goldman 2005) • Beijing’s Olympic Bid (Haugen 2005) • Beyul

  11. References • Foucault, Michel. 1978. The history of sexuality: Volume 1: An introduction. New York: Vintage Books. • Goldman, Michael. 2005. Imperial nature. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. • Haugen, Heidi Ø. 2005. Time and space in Beijing's Olympic bid. Norwegian journal of geography59 (3):217-227. • Lees, Loretta. 2004. Urban geography: discourse analysis and urban research. Progress in Human Geography 28 (1): 101-107.   • Shurmer-Smith, Pamela. 2002. Doing cultural geography. London: Sage. • Waitt, Gordon. 2005. Doing discourse analysis. In Qualitative research methods in human geography, ed. I. Hay, 163-191. Oxford: Oxford University Press.  

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