ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines what is meant by 'discourse' within the social construtionism approach, and shows how it is intimately connected to social structure and social practices. If discourses regulate the knowledge of the world, the common understanding of things and events, and if these shared understandings inform the social practices then it becomes clear that there is an intimate relationship between discourse, knowledge and power. It represents education and capitalism as systems of social control and exploitation are less likely to enjoy widespread acceptance as common-sense truths. French historian and philosopher Michel Foucault argues that in relatively recent history there has been a shift from sovereign power to disciplinary power, in which the population is effectively controlled through people's self-monitoring processes. Psychology itself is implicated here, to the extent that disciplinary power has provided various ways of assessing and categorising people that can then be used to create norms for what people consider to be a well-balanced, healthy person.
