A Weberian Framework for Critical Discourse Analysis

Abstract

Discourse analysis, since its emergence, has gone through various changes and modifications, especially in the trend coming to prominence as critical discourse analysis. This trend has always manifested the impact of brilliant ideas by great intellectuals from different disciplines such as philosophy, sociology, psychology, and social theory. Max Weber is one of the towering figures in the history of sociology whose method of conducting sociological analysis, especially the concept of ideal types, has not been adequately utilized in discourse studies. Throughout years, critical discourse analysis has been criticized on account of its founding assumptions, vagueness, preferences for a particular social theory, lack of rigor, unsystematic nature, lack of methodological consistency, nontransparent research procedures, etc. Simply stated, using its theories in conducting actual analysis has always been a problem for researchers. This study is an attempt to propose a framework using Weber’s ideas and methodology which enables researchers to utilize discourse theories in practice. The Weberian framework does not reject other theories within the field as it is in line with an orientation termed hyper-differentiation of theories in which theories coexist rather than compete with each other.