Social Constructionism

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.