Foucauldian-Informed Discourse Analysis

Foucauldian-informed discourse analysis (also known as poststructuralist discourse analysis) is an important method for identity researchers because it focuses on the understandings people use to make sense of themselves. Foucauldian-informed discourse analysis examines what ideas people use to make sense of themselves; how these ideas come to be “thinkable” at that moment; and the consequences for what someone can say, think, feel or do when thinking with these ideas. In so doing, it offers a critical approach that also opens up directions for more affirmative ways of thinking. In this chapter, we explain some key concepts informing Foucauldian-informed research, including discourse and genealogy; power as productive, diffuse, and disciplinary; normalization, confession, and governmentality; and subject positions and technologies of self. We discuss how psychologists developing discourse analysis in the UK both engaged with, and blended, Foucauldian concepts with other linguist approaches, producing a diverse body of work. With no established procedure for Foucauldian-informed discourse analysis, this chapter offers two worked examples from separate projects related to identity and health, showing the reader how these concepts can be operationalized in the study of identities. Using an analysis of body mass index (BMI) and data from a study on how couples in long term relationships navigate lifestyle advice after a diagnosis of coronary heart disease, we showcase the value of Foucauldian-informed discourse analysis for identity researchers, particularly when identity is central in the organization of neoliberal societies.