Social Construction in Context

by Kenneth J Gergen

• ISBN13: 9780761965459
• ISBN10: 0761965459
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-05-23
• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd

Summary

This latest book by one the world's leading protagonists in the field will be welcomed not just by psychologists but by students, academics and professionals interested in social constructionism across a wide range of subjects. Social Construction in Context explores the potentials of social constructionist theory when placed in diverse intellectual and practical contexts. It demonstrates the achievements of social constructionism, and what it can now offer various fields of inquiry, both academic, professional and applied, given the proliferation of the theory across the social sciences and humanities. First order issues of concern within the academic world, objectivity, truth, power and ideology, are now being augmented by widespread developments in practice - therapeutic, pedagogical, organizational and political. This book looks closely at these developments and examines both the positive potentials and limitations of social constructionist theory when applied to a variety of domains. It has been written in an accessible and scholarly manner making it suitable for a wide-ranging readership. This book should be of great value to all students and academics interested in social constructionist theory. Particularly, within the fields of psychology, sociology, organizational behavior, communication, cultural studies, and the human sciences. It should also appeal to those the helping professions (i.e. therapists, counselors and social workers).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	vi
Introduction	1	(6)
Part I: Social Construction and the Human Sciences	7	(89)
Constructionism and Realism: A Necessary Collision?	7	(18)
The Place of the Psyche in a Constructed World	25	(19)
The Limits of Pure Critique	44	(19)
Who Speaks and Who Responds in the Human Sciences?	63	(19)
History and Psychology: Conflict and Communion	82	(14)
Part II: Social Construction and Societal Practice	96	(73)
Therapy as Social Construction	96	(19)
Lisa Warhus
Social Construction and Pedagogical Practice	115	(22)
Stanton Wortham
The Ethical Challenge of Global Organization	137	(12)
Organizational Science in a Postmodern Context	149	(20)
Tojo Thatchenkery
Part III: Social Construction and Cultural Context	169	(29)
From Identity to Relational Politics	169	(15)
Technology, Self and the Moral Project	184	(14)
Bibliography	198	(22)
Index	220