Power and solidarity-building in the discourse of Alcoholics Anonymous.

The focus of this study is on the spoken and written discourse of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and its constitutive effect on its social organisation. Relevant aspects of AA literature are examined, while other data has been obtained from observation and tape recordings of AA meetings. It is argued that AA written and spoken texts are marked by the avoidance of power differentials in that ideologies and prescriptions that mark such differentials are avoided. It is further argued that the structure and social practices of AA are themselves determined by these discursive features, and their function is to maintain these. This creates a discursive setting that allows AA members to participate in self-revelatory and self-exploratory sharing in a framework of trust that facilitates a re-evaluation of their personal power over alcoholism and the larger worl