Varieties of Discourse: On the Study of Organizations through Discourse Analysis

TLDR

Discourse is a widely used term with multiple meanings, often leading to confusion. The article seeks to clarify the various meanings of discourse in social studies, its relevance for organizational analysis, and to explore the methodological links between micro‑level discourse in texts and macro‑level discursive structures. It examines how discourse produced in interviews and everyday life relates to meanings, experiences, orientations, events, material objects, social practices, and large‑scale ordered discursive structures.

Abstract

Discourse is a popular term used in a variety of ways, easily leading to confusion. This article attempts to clarify the various meanings of discourse in social studies, the term's relevance for organizational analysis and some key theoretical positions in discourse analysis. It also focuses on the methodological problem of the relationship between: a) the level of discourse produced in interviews and in everyday life observed as `social texts' (in particular talk); b) other kinds of phenomena, such as meanings, experiences, orientations, events, material objects and social practices; and, c) discourses in the sense of a large-scale, ordered, integrated way of reasoning/ constituting the social world. In particular, the relationship between `micro and meso-level' discourse analysis (i.e. specific social texts being the primary empirical material) and `grand and mega-level' discourse (i.e. large-scale orders) is investigated.