Identity is thus a positioning of self or other in a system of meaning-relations and in a network of material practices, including a system of power relations. One of the most important such systems of meaning relations are those which define the salient social categorization of a culture. In some cases distinctions with regard to religious affiliation or occupational group also play a role, but in the broad picture a lesser one. All of these distinctions form together a single unified semiotic system of social categorization. Discourse in general serves to construct identity and positioning with respect to this system of meanings.
Academic discourse serves to reinforce a particular identity and position with it.