Table Of ContentUndertaking Discourse Analysis for Social Research
Kevin C. Dunn and Iver B. Neumann offer a concise, accessible intro-
duction to discourse analysis in the social sciences. A vital resource for
students and scholars alike, this book combines a theoretical and con-
ceptual review with a “how- to” guide for using the method.
In the first part of the book, the authors discuss the development of
discourse analysis as a research method and identify the main theoreti-
cal elements and epistemological assumptions that have led to its emer-
gence as one of the primary qualitative methods of analysis in contem-
porary scholarship. Then, drawing from a wide-r ange of examples of
social science scholarship, Dunn and Neumann provide an indispens-
able guide to the variety of ways discourse analysis has been used. They
delve into what is gained by using this approach and demonstrate how
one actually applies it. They cover such important issues as research pre-
requisites, how one conceives of a research question, what “counts” as
evidence, how one “reads” the data, and some common obstacles and
pitfalls. The result is a clear and accessible manual for successfully im-
plementing discourse analysis in social research.
Kevin C. Dunn is Professor of Political Science at Hobart and William
Smith Colleges.
Iver B. Neumann is the Montague Burton Professor of International
Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science and
a Research Professor at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs.
Undertaking Discourse
Analysis for Social Research
Kevin C. Dunn and Iver B. Neumann
university of michigan press | ann arbor
Copyright © 2016 by Kevin C. Dunn and Iver B. Neumann
All rights reserved
This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form
(beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and
except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publisher.
Published in the United States of America by the
University of Michigan Press
Manufactured in the United States of America
c Printed on acid- free paper
2019 2018 2017 2016 4 3 2 1
A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Dunn, Kevin C., 1967– | Neumann, Iver B.
Title: Undertaking discourse analysis for social research / Kevin C. Dunn, Iver B. Neumann.
Description: Ann Arbor : University of Michigan Press, 2016. | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015033703| ISBN 9780472073115 (hardback) | ISBN 9780472053117
(paperback) | ISBN 9780472121908 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Social sciences— Research. | Discourse analysis.
Classification: LCC H62 .D7966 2016 | DDC 300.72— dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015033703
Contents
1 | Discourse Analysis in the Social Sciences 1
What Is a Discourse? 2
What Is Discourse Analysis? 4
How Is Discourse Analysis Different from Other Approaches? 9
Is Discourse Analysis the Right Approach for You? 11
Structure of the Book 14
Suggested Further Readings 15
2 | Variations in Theories and Approaches to Discourse Analysis 17
Defining Discourses 17
Theories of Discourses: From Structuralism to Postpositivism 21
Structuralism 24
The Frankfurt School and Poststructuralism 27
Postpositivism 28
Approaches to Discourse Analysis: Linguistic Studies and
Social Sciences 30
Discourse Analysis in Linguistic Studies 30
Discourse Analysis in the Social Sciences 32
Suggested Further Readings 41
3 | Key Analytical Points 43
Language/Text 43
The Production of Knowledge 47
Discourses and Power 54
Representation and Practice 60
Discourse and Materiality 67
Subject Positions and Institutions 75
Suggested Further Readings 82
4 | Getting Started 83
Prerequisites 83
Conceiving a Research Question 86
vi | Contents
Identifying and Selecting Sources 90
Choosing Texts 91
Delimiting Your Scope 94
Variations in the Types of Texts 98
When Is Enough? 100
Suggested Further Readings 102
5 | Conducting Discourse Analysis 103
Different Strategies of Conducting Discourse Analysis 104
Identifying Discourses 105
Textual Mechanisms for Interpreting Discourses 109
Presupposition and the Creation of Background Knowledges 110
Predicate Analysis and the Creation of Subjects 111
Subject Positioning 112
Metaphorical Analysis 114
Inventorying Representations 116
Mapping Discourses 118
Layering Discourses 121
Suggested Further Readings 124
6 | Conclusion 125
Notes 131
Bibliography 135
Index 145
List of Boxes
Box 1 Michel Foucault, Archaeology of Knowledge 21
Box 2 Edward Said, Orientalism 48
Box 3 James Der Derian, On Diplomacy 52
Box 4 Achille Mbembe, “Provisional Notes on the Postcolony” 58
Box 5 Jens Bartelson, A Genealogy of Sovereignty 70
Box 6 Paul Willis, Learning to Labour 79
Box 7 Roxanne Doty, Imperial Encounters 89
Box 8 L ene Hansen, Security as Practice: Discourse Analysis
and the Bosnian War 107
Box 9 Carol Cohn, “Sex and Death in the Rational World of
Defense Intellectuals” 115
1 | Discourse Analysis in the Social Sciences
Discourse analysis is increasingly becoming a popular way in which schol-
ars conduct social science research. Yet, there is often some understand-
able confusion given the wide array of assumptions, theoretical ap-
proaches, and research methods that get labeled “discourse analysis.” This
book seeks to be a concise, accessible introduction to discourse analysis in
the social sciences. It is aimed at being a guide for graduate students, ad-
vanced undergraduates, and new scholars interested in expanding their
research methods. In the chapters that follow, we will provide an overview
of the development of discourse analysis in the social sciences, identifying
the main theoretical elements and epistemological assumptions that have
led to its emergence as one of the primary qualitative methods of analysis
in contemporary scholarship. Ultimately, the book will help the reader
understand the various ways in which one “does” discourse analysis.
In this introductory chapter, we begin by addressing a handful of key
question. What is a discourse? What is discourse analysis? What are the
variations in the ways one conducts and conceives of discourse analysis?
How is discourse analysis different from other approaches of social sci-
ence research? Is discourse analysis the right approach for you? As this is
an introductory chapter, our answers to these questions will be somewhat
sketchy, with the concepts, theories, and arguments we make here devel-
oped further in the following chapters. As with each chapter in the book,
this introduction will conclude with a list of suggested further readings.
Throughout the book, you will also encounter box inserts in which we
briefly summarize exemplary discourse analyses to give you an awareness
of the range of applications already employed by other scholars.
