Discourse Analysis and the Production of Knowledge on Social Rights

Abstract

Underlying the debate about knowledge production in the social sciences is the very matter of its object of study. It is distinct from that of the physical and natural sciences and requires a different logic for the empirical apprehensions and analyses of phenomena. The purpose of this paper is to show how discourse analysis may be a heuristic tool for rescuing the social aspects of the social rights debate . This is particularly true in the case of frontier zones, given the variety of discourses characteristic of such areas. Current perspectives on human rights carry the issue of diversity in their essence – to discuss sustainability one must think how economic, cultural, social and epistemic communities apprehend and influence the many aspects of the theme. These alterations imply new devices for knowledge production. The use of discourse and content analysis in data collection for qualitative research may markedly improve the production of knowledge. The paper also seeks to show how discourse analysis may highlight the relations between knowledge production and human rights, and determine the place of ideology both in discourse and practice.