Introduction

As L. Talmy [10. P. 219] states force dynamics is one of the schematic systems that organizes meaning in discourse. This paper intends to explore the manner in which forces are conceived to relate from two different perspectives. On the one hand, it examines how entities and events relate with respect to the exertion of force and resistance to such force at multiple levels: lexical, syntactic and pragmatic. Relationships at this last level are displayed through the construction of mental spaces [4; 5].

On the other hand, it uses the analysis of force dynamics as an instrument for apprehending social relationships. From this perspective the research is part of a project directed by Matilde Luna at the Institute for Social Research of the National University of Mexico (IIS-UNAM) on the «Generation and transmission of knowledge in Mexico: flows and networks between public and private sectors» (CONACYT 27794S). The project's main objective is analyzing the structure and dynamics of cooperative relations between academic research institutes and private enterprises in Mexico.

The benefits to be obtained from a study of force dynamic relationships in discourse stem from the fact that communication between social entities is a complex process of dynamic interaction between participants, their concepts and the world. There is an intrinsic relationship between the idea a society has of itself and its capacity for social interaction. E. Durkheim (1912 in translation 1995 [3. P. 425] recognizes that there are critical moments when a particular society has different representations of itself:

1)conceptual conflicts between an ideal that possesses the authority of tradition and another that is only coming into being

and

2)representational conflicts occurring when collective ideals become incarnate in individuals.

One way of studying these representations is stated by C. Geertz [6. P. 28]:

Our double task is to uncover the conceptual structures that inform our subject's acts, the «said» of social discourse, and to construct a system of analysis in whose terms what is generic to those structures, what belongs to them because they are what they are, will stand out against the other determinants of human behavior C. Geertz [6. P. 27].

The kind of discourse analysis carried out in the present research aims at employing an analysis of the exertion of force and resistance to force for apprehending, in a clear cut systematic fashion, the conceptual structures underlying social action, in C. Geertz terminology: the «said» of social discourse. This approach permits the researcher to discover just how participants in social interaction (in this case academics and company employees) construct alternate conceptualizations of the same reality.

Force dynamics analysis has been selected as the vehicle for this approximation to meaning because this system [10. P. 409] is a generalization of the causative. Preliminary analysis has shown that this approach is useful both for exploring the organization of meaning and apprehending social relationships.