Communication, discourse and activity

Abstract

The article questions the separation of discourse from object‐oriented productive activity, evident in both conversation analysis (CA) and critical discourse analysis (CDA). This separation leads to difficulties in the choice of a unit of analysis. It is argued that these difficulties may be overcome by focusing the analysis on situated activity systems. An activity‐system analysis directs the attention to the intertwining of instrumental‐productive and influence‐power aspects of communication in organizations. Beyond that, the tension‐laden and unstable nature of actions, seen in the context of the inherently contradictory activity system that generates them, invites the researcher to search for the dynamics and possibilities of change and development involved in mundane disturbances of organizational communication.

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