Context and Background

The outline of the sociological theory of discourse developed in the preceding two chapters has the purpose of preparing for the discourse analysis of the construction of sociology within the context of the discourse of modernity to be carried out in Part II of the book. The theoretical account given thus far already contains some methodologically relevant considerations, but before embarking on the proposed analysis it is necessary to elaborate independently on the methodology of discourse analysis adopted here. To do so in an intelligible way, it is necessary first to place this approach within the broader context of contemporary discourse analysis and to clarify its particular background.

Being informed by Habermas’ theory of communicative action and discourse and entailing the introduction of some of Foucault's ideas to strengthen its concern with power, the discourse analysis represented in this book belongs most closely to the theoretical and research tradition of critical theory, particularly the philosophical and sociological space opened up by the second generation of critical theorists in Frankfurt, Habermas and Apel. It is therefore a form of discourse analysis in which emphasis is placed on critique as well as on the cognitive or, more fully, the socio-cognitive dimension. As such, however, it needs to be distinguished from a number of other varieties of discourse analysis that have been developed and applied more or less successfully in the past decade or so. Five different approaches are most directly relevant here.