This article compares and contrasts the way a set of fundamental issues are treated in
social representations theory and discursive psychology. These are: action, representation,
communication, cognition, construction, epistemology and method. In each case we indicate
arguments for the discursive psychological treatment. These arguments are then developed
and illustrated through a discussion of Wagner et al. 1999 which highlights in particular the
way the analysis fails to address the activities done by people when they are producing
representations, and the epistemological troubles that arise from failing to address the role of
the researcher’s own representations
