Foucauldian Discourse Analysis in Psychology: Reflecting on a Hybrid Reading of Foucault When Researching “Ethical Subjects”

Abstract

This article attempts to address a novel dilemma the author recently faced when undertaking qualitative psychological research into sustainable tourism. The article embraces notions of reflexivity to highlight how the research process was far removed from the sanitised version often presented in research methods textbooks. The article provides a reflexive account of the struggles of analysing Internet and interview data in relation to sustainable tourism via the dominant version of Foucauldian Discourse Analysis familiar to many qualitative/critical psychologists. Turning to an account of Foucault’s later work on ethics, this article presents an alternative approach to Foucauldian Discourse Analysis that adopts a hybrid reading of Foucault’s work on power, knowledge, and ethics. Drawing on Foucault’s four precepts helps us explore the ways individuals “cultivate the self as an ethical subject,” and interview data are presented to highlight the ways such an approach can enrich analysis. It is concluded that while presenting issues surrounding understandings of structure and agency, such an approach did offer a pragmatic solution to an ethical question and may indeed be useful in a range of other areas.