Performativity and subjectivities: A Foucauldian discourse analysis of Pasaway COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

This study utilized Foucauldian Discourse Analysis to explore the different constructions of pasaway in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines. Nine street vendors located around Iloilo City who do not have permanent workspaces were interviewed and their answers served as the text for the analysis. The results showed that their constructions were embedded in five wider discourses: 1) Moral Discourse, 2) Cultural Discourse, 3) Spatial and Temporal Discourse, 4) Economic Discourse, and 5) Power Discourse. Embedded within these five discourses are the different action orientations, positionings, practices, and subjectivities that are informed by the varied constructions of street vendors of the discursive object pasaway in the context of the C0V1D-19 pandemic. The findings also showed that the discourses on the discursive object pasaway are context-specific, performative, and consequential. These are all discussed in relation to social change.