In light of the Psychological Society of South Africa’s commitment to ‘social relevance’, this article investigates the ongoing appeal for ‘relevance’ in the discipline. Pursuant to the social constructionist tenet regarding the constitutiveness of language, it examines addresses delivered at national Psychological Society of South Africa congresses since 1994. With Fairclough’s three-dimensional model for critical discourse analysis serving as its analytic frame, the article presents rhetorical, discursive, and socio-historical analyses of nine presidential, opening, and keynote addresses. Specifically, two competing discourses are identified: the first – a market discourse – advocates the development of a psychology that is financially rewarding, globally competitive, and internationally recognised. Accordingly, ‘market relevance’ is sought in which teaching, research, and community service outputs are graded according to international standards and priorities. The second discourse of civic responsibility casts South Africa’s traumatic past as unresolved and requiring, therefore, the intervention of psychologists. In this case, ‘social relevance’ is desired in order to bring about the emancipation of marginalised communities. On balance, however, it is the market discourse that saturates the discursive order. It is argued that South Africa’s re-entry into the international community has given rise to far-reaching changes to the country’s political, economic, and higher education landscapes, which have adjusted themselves to the demands of a globalised neo-liberal hegemony.