Discursive dominance or discursive power is the ultimate emergence of one discourse as dominant among competing ones in their struggle for dominance. Ultimately, one of the discourses emerges as dominant. The word ‘

discursive Discursive is an adjective from the word discourse and may refer specifically to: * Discursive complex, a methodological device in psychoanalysis * Discursive democracy, any system of political decisions based on some tradeoff of consensus decision ...

’ is related to the word

discourse Discourse is a generalization of the notion of a conversation to any form of communication. Discourse is a major topic in social theory, with work spanning fields such as sociology, anthropology, continental philosophy, and discourse analysis. ...

, which refers to "communication of ideas". In a society there are competing discourses (or narratives) regarding anything and everything such as

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

caste Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...

ism,

communalism Communalism may refer to: * Communalism (Bookchin), a theory of government in which autonomous communities form confederations * , a historical method that follows the development of communities * Communalism (South Asia), violence across ethnic ...

, regionalism,

economic development In the economics study of the public sector, economic and social development is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and o ...

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...

governance Governance is the process of interactions through the laws, social norm, norms, power (social and political), power or language of an organized society over a social system (family, tribe, formal organization, formal or informal organization, a ...

, etc. According to Chanchal Kumar Sharma (2011, 169) 'A dominant discourse is a winning discursive formation. A complete consensus is not necessary, though. It is the one that survives the widest range of criticisms in various forums and media.'

References

Further reading

See also