There’s a really widespread belief in the social sciences that discourse matters, that language and narrative isn’t just a transparent medium through which we view the world, but also something that creates winners and losers, and is therefore fought over. Michel Foucault is the obvious name to check here. His idea has been so influential that he must surely have been on to something. Even if you don’t drink the postmodernism Kool-aid, “discourse” is too popular a concept to be completely mistaken.