Critical Discursive Psychology

320 Pages·2015·2.042 MB·English

by  Ian Parker

Critical Discursive Psychology
Also by Ian Parker
CARRYING OUT INVESTIGATIONS IN PSYCHOLOGY ( co-author )
CRITICAL DISCURSIVE PSYCHOLOGY, 1ST EDITION
CRITICAL PSYCHOLOGY, 4 VOLS. ( editor )
CRITICAL TEXTWORK ( co-author )
An Introduction to Varieties of Discourse and Analysis
CULTURE, POWER AND DIFFERENCE ( co-editor )
Discourse Analysis in South Africa
CYBERPSYCHOLOGY (c o-editor )
DECONSTRUCTING PSYCHOPATHOLOGY ( co-author )
DECONSTRUCTING PSYCHOTHERAPY ( editor )
DECONSTRUCTING SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY (c o-editor )
DISCOURSE ANALYTIC RESEARCH ( co-editor )
Repertoires and Readings of Texts in Action
DISCOURSE DYNAMICS
Critical Analysis for Social and Individual Psychology
QUALITATIVE PSYCHOLOGY
Introducing Radical Research
REVOLUTION IN PSYCHOLOGY
Alienation to Emancipation
JAPAN IN ANALYSIS
Cultures of the Unconscious
LACANIAN PSYCHOANALYSIS
Revolutions in Subjectivity
PSYCHOANALYTIC CULTURE
Psychoanalytic Discourse in Western Society
PSYCHOANALYTIC MYTHOLOGIES
PSYCHOANALYTIC PRACTICE AND STATE REGULATION (c o-editor )
PSYCHOLOGY AND SOCIETY ( co-editor )
Radical Theory and Practice
QUALITATIVE METHODS IN PSYCHOLOGY (c o-author )
A Research Guide
REVOLUTION IN PSYCHOLOGY
Alienation to Emancipation
SLAVOJ ŽIŽEK
A Critical Introduction
SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONISM, DISCOURSE AND REALISM ( editor )
THE CRISIS IN MODERN SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, AND HOW TO END IT
Critical Discursive
Psychology
2nd Edition
Ian Parker
University of Leicester, UK
Editorial matter and selection © Ian Parker 2002, 2015
Individual chapters © Respective authors 2002, 2015
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in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published 2002
Second edition published 2015 by
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ISBN: 978–1–137–48559–5
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Parker, Ian, 1956–
Critical discursive psychology / Ian Parker, University of Leicester, UK. –
Second edition.
pages cm
ISBN 978–1–137–48559–5 (hardback)
1. Psycholinguistics. 2. Discourse analysis – Psychological aspects. I. Title.
BF455.P345 2015
150—dc23 2015001778
For Erica again

Contents
Acknowledgements xi
Notes on Contributors xiii
Introduction 1
Discourse 2
Discourse analysis 4
Going critical 6
1 T heoretical Discourse, Subjectivity and Critical
Psychology 9
S ituated knowledge 1 0
T heoretical critical distance 1 6
C omplex subjectivity 2 1
C onclusions and openings 2 6
Part I Enlightenment, Realism and Power 27
2 A gainst Postmodernism: Psychology in Cultural Context 29
P ostmodern against the modern 3 1
A detour: postmodern narrative and Enlightenment
practice 4 4
F our Enlightenment reversals 4 6
C onclusion 5 2
2a A gainst Against-ism: Comment on Parker 5 4
F red Newman and Lois Holzman
2b Critical Distance: Reply to Newman and Holzman 60
K nowing something 6 0
K nowing nothing 6 2
3 A gainst Relativism in Psychology, On Balance 65
I ntroduction 6 5
F or relativism, and against 6 8
F or critical realism, and against 7 4
T he separation and reconnection of moral-political critique 78
vii
viii Contents
3a R egulating Criticism: Some Comments on an
Argumentative Complex 8 1
Jonathan Potter, Derek Edwards and Malcolm Ashmore
I ntroduction 8 1
R hetorical troubles 8 4
R ecruiting the tortured, oppressed and murdered 8 5
C ritical realist psychology and critical realism in and
against psychology 8 6
T rouble in the Parker-complex 8 7
3b T he Quintessentially Academic Position 8 9
4 A gainst Wittgenstein: Materialist Reflections on
Language in Psychology 9 2
W ittgenstein and psychology 9 5
W ords, the world and power 9 9
P sychology, again 1 06
C ontexts 1 09
C onnections and conclusions 1 11
4a T he Practical Turn in Psychology: Marx and
Wittgenstein as Social Materialists 1 14
J ohn. T. Jost and Curtis D. Hardin
T he practical turn 1 14
W ittgenstein was not a relativist 1 17
W ittgenstein was not an essentialist 1 19
T he politics of Wittgenstein 1 20
S ynthesizing Marx and Wittgenstein 1 21
4b R eference Points for Critical Theoretical Work in
Psychology 1 22
W ittgenstein and Marx 1 22
C ontradictions 1 24
S ynthesis 1 25
Part II The Turn to Discourse as a Critical
Theoretical Resource 127
5 D iscursive Psychology Uncut 1 29
D efining ‘discourse’ 1 29
H istorical resources: two traditions 1 31
D iscourse analysis in psychology 1 34
Contents ix
A xes of difference in discursive research 138
R emaining questions 1 47
6 D iscourse: Definitions and Contradictions 148
I ntroduction 1 48
T he turn to language 1 49
C riteria 1 51
A uxiliary criteria 1 60
R eflections and conclusions 1 62
6a D iscourse: Noun, Verb or Social Practice? 165
J onathan Potter, Margaret Wetherell, Rosalind Gill and
Derek Edwards
I ntroduction 1 65
D iscourse analysis: descriptive and constructive 167
R eification and intuition 1 69
I nterpretative repertoires 1 73
6b T he Context of Discourse: Let’s Not Throw Out the
Baby with the Bathwater 1 76
D ominic Abrams and Michael A. Hogg
6c R eal Things: Discourse, Context and Practice 184
O bject status 1 85
C ontext 1 86
P ractice 1 88
Part III Critical Discursive Research, Subjectivity
and Practice 191
7 R eflexive Research and Grounding of Analysis:
Psychology and the Psy-complex 1 93
O bjectivity 1 95
S ubjectivity 1 98
D iscursive complexes 2 01
T he psy-complex 2 03
D iscussion 2 06
C oncluding comments 2 07
8 T racing Therapeutic Discourse in Material Culture 209
T he material 2 10
A nalytic steps 2 12
T herapeutic discourse, subject positions and power 220
C oncluding comments 2 22