Post structuralism and theory of discourse: Theoretical perspectives for research on curriculum policies

Abstract

This paper disputes the idea of research as a mere direct verification procedure or test of a hypothesis or theory. It addresses post-structuralism as productive potential in the conduct of empirical research in the social sciences and education, highlighting the contributions of post-structuralist approaches and analytical references. It considers Laclau and Mouffe's discourse theory in the understanding of curriculum policies, understanding that the methodological choices are based on discursive proposals that must be recognized and put into play in the research process. It emphasizes theoretical categories such as discourse, articulatory practices, subject, demands and hegemony. It defends the idea of curriculum as a discursive, cultural practice of power and meaning. It understands political identifications as antagonistic cuts, which approach different demands; a provisional closure of signifiers that constitute as a text, resulted of debates, of the impossibility of thoughts.