Constructing a constructive critique of social constructionism: Finding a narrative space for the non-human

Journal/Book: New Idea Psychol. 1996; 14: The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford, England OX5 1GB. Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd. 209-224.

Abstract: This paper is intended to serve as a critical contribution to the growing literature on the social constructionist social psychology. If social constructionism has tended to narrate its emergence in the intellectualist terms of the ''linguistic turn,'' the paper suggests a number of alternative stories that identify within social constructionism a narrative space that can accommodate the ''non-human.'' The first of these alternative stories examines the implications of recent debates around the issue of reflexivity. The second, while taking seriously the notion that SCSP is postmodern, reflects upon;what it means to be postmodern and in the process expands the horizons within which SCSP can be practised. A third story is an exercise in embedding SCSP in an historical and institutional context: what are the ''pressures'' that, on the one hand, have enabled SCSP and cognate disciplines to differentiate themselves from others, and on the other, are perhaps forcing them into closer alignment with seemingly incommensurate (realist or positivist) perspectives. A theme that emerges from these three critiques is the narrative (or analytic) posture of ''principled unprincipledness'' wherein practitioners of SCSP can retain a political principle whilst eschewing epistemological principledness. This approach is exemplified in the final, concluding section, in which I tentatively suggest that Actor-Network Theory can accommodate both the constitutively non-human and the socially constructed as interacting efficacious actors.

Note: Article Michael M, Univ Lancaster, Lonsdale Coll, Sch Independent Studies, Ctr Sci Studies & Sci Policy, Lancaster LA1 4YN, ENGLAND

Keyword(s): SCIENCE; REFLEXIVITY; PSYCHOLOGY; INTERESTS; SOCIOLOGY

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