Social Constructionism
Sources and Stirrings in Theory and Practice

A critical and thematic survey of the diverse traditions and recent developments within contemporary social constructionism.

Andy Lock (Author), Tom Strong (Author)

9780521708357, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 25 March 2010

402 pages, 4 b/w illus.
24.7 x 17.2 x 1.9 cm, 0.8 kg

'Andy Lock and Tom Strong skilfully situate current approaches to social constructionsim within an unbroken flow of work stretching back into the history of western thought as well as into places where it should develop further. Their work opens up whole new realms for possible empirical inquiries in the future. This is an exceptionally comprehensive survey that any psychologist interested in social constructionism should own. The authors are to be commended.' John Shotter, University of New Hampshire

Social Constructionism: Sources and Stirrings in Theory and Practice offers an introduction to the different theorists and schools of thought that have contributed to the development of contemporary social constructionist ideas, charting a course through the ideas that underpin the discipline. From the New Science of Vico in the 18th century, through to Marxist writers, ethnomethodologists and Wittgenstein, ideas as to how socio-cultural processes provide the resources that make us human are traced to the present day. Despite constructionists often being criticised as 'relativists', 'activists' and 'anti-establishment' and for making no concrete contributions, their ideas are now being adopted by practically-oriented disciplines such as management consultancy, advertising, therapy, education and nursing. Andy Lock and Tom Strong aim to provoke a wider grasp of an alternative history and tradition that has developed alongside the one emphasised in traditional histories of the social sciences.

1. Introduction
2. Giambattista Vico
3. Phenomenology
4. Hermeneutics
5. Marxism and language
6. Lev Vygotsky
7. Meanings and perspectives: George Herbert Mead and Jakob von Uexküll
8. Ludwig Wittgenstein: 'shewing the fly out of the bottle'
9. Gregory Bateson: a cybernetic view of communication and human interaction
10. Sociologies - micro and macro: Garfinkel, Goffman and Giddens
11. Sources of the self
12. Michel Foucault and his challenges
13. Discourse analysis
14. Ken and Mary Gergen
15. Rom Harre
16. John Shotter
17. Concluding remarks.

Subject Areas: Social, group or collective psychology [JMH], Psychology [JM], Social theory [JHBA]