Raudelio

Machin Suarez Editor

New Waves in Social

Psychology
ISBN 978-3-030-87405-6 ISBN 978-3-030-87406-3 (eBook)

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87406-3

Foreword
The opportunity to offer preliminary comments on the present volume is a special privilege. It is not
simply because of the rich and illuminating constellation of contributions contained in the work. But
from my par- ticular perch in social psychology, I see this book as a significant historical marker. It
provides informed insight into the unfolding transformation of the field, while simultaneously
preparing the way for probing reflection on the future.

To set the context for these remarks, let me share from my own history in the field. I entered graduate
school in social psychology filled with dreams and aspirations of making a contribution to human well-
being. I soon found myself immersed in courses on experimental methodology, measurement, statistics,
and the philosophy of science. All were provided with the promise that these were tools for generating
objective and value- free knowledge about the social world. With time I also realized that the field of
social psychology was in a state of transition. It was in the process of shedding the “dark ages” of
armchair speculation and empathic hand- wringing, to become a respected member of the behavioral
sciences. It had embraced a logical positivist account of science, with its ultimate aim of enhancing
prediction and control of human behavior. With the subse- quent birth and expansion of the Society for
Experimental Psychology, a self-proclaimed elite emerged and with it a supporting infrastructure of
journals, research funds, and teaching positions. This positivist orientation ultimately came to
dominate social psychology in North America and many parts of Europe.

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Although I had learned my lessons well, as a budding professional, I began to feel the oppressive weight
of this “disciplining.” Over time I began to see social psychology as on the way to becoming an isolated
island, where the natives spoke only to themselves about issues on the island. Issues of major
consequence within the surrounding society passed without interest. One might say that social
psychology was concerned with itself, and not the pressing issues of living together in the world. I
began to write critically about these matters, with special concern for the shortcomings of its positivist
foundations. During the intellectual battles that followed, I also began to find allies in the struggle
against the positiv- ist vision of scientific knowledge. Political theory, literary studies, linguis- tic
philosophy, and the social studies of science were prominent among them. Discontent with twentieth
century scientism was widespread. As these various intellectual forces began to merge, the “science
wars”—as they were called—swept through the universities. Slowly the philosophic foundations of
science gave way to a social account of scientific knowl- edge. More broadly one could see this as a part
of a more general shift from modern to postmodern culture. For me, it was also the formative context
for my explorations in social construction.

At least in North American social science, the erosion of positivist foun- dations was enormously
liberating. It brought issues of social and political value into central focus, stimulated a renaissance in
qualitative practices of research, and invited cross-disciplinary dialogue. At the same time, the field of
social psychology was torn apart. The experimentalists closed ranks in defense of their island, while
those who disagreed were left to roam as they wished. At least in the Anglo-European context, critical
work blos- somed, along with fresh lines of inquiry and practices of research. Engagement in issues of
social justice, immigration, neoliberalism, and the environment began to emerge, and the door opened
to the participation in the broader dialogues in social and political theory. It is at just this junc- ture that
one begins to appreciate the significance of the present volume.

In my view, psychologists in Latin America along with the Latin-based countries of Europe had never
embraced the positivist vision of psychol- ogy. Thus, during the science wars, they had been a
continuous source of inspiration for us activists in the Anglo orbit. The critical work of Paulo Freire, the
liberation psychology movement sparked by Ignacio Martin- Baro, and the participatory action
research of Orlando Fals Borda and others were inspirational for us. To be sure, these were significant
offer- ings during the science wars. However, the major question then emerged:

What happened to social psychology in the Latin orbit since the postmodern split in social psychology? The
present volume not only provides illuminat- ing insight but may serve as the visionary source for a new
and liberated social psychology. How should we characterize this vision? Judging from the
contributions to the present volume, I find four attributes particularly notable:

Value invested. The critical and liberationist traditions remain strong. In the present work, for example,
concerns with political economy, neolib- eralism, and minority oppression are all relevant. At the same
time, the present work broadens the horizon of relevant concerns to include issues of human values
and ethics. Similarly, the research process itself is shown to be value invested.

Pluralist. Abandoning the restrictive confines of positivism, the door is opened here to multiple
perspectives and modes of practice. One may thus find in the present work accounts that variously
pivot around psy- choanalysis, humanism, microsocial process, symbolic anthropology, socio-structural
analysis, and relational theory. The pluralist orientation is also evident in the range of research
practices, including case studies, personal reports, traditional measurement, action research,
historiogra- phy, and ethnography.

Intellectually expansive. There is an abiding appreciation of broader intel- lectual traditions and
developments. Casting off the intellectual insular- ity of the positivist tradition, there is active
participation in the currents of intellectual life. In the present volume, for example, chapters are in
active dialogue with Deleuze, Habermas, Bachelard, Judith Butler, Charles Taylor, and more. Social
psychology is vastly enriched through this blurring of academic borders.

Temporally sensitive. While the positivist search for timeless knowledge largely suppressed interest in
historical context, the present vision is sen- sitive to multiple ways in which history and social
psychology should be linked. As these chapters show, not only can research work be specifi- cally
invested in social change, but it can place its focus on historical change itself. We thus find chapters
concerned with the origins of jurist culture, the emergence of the social imaginary, and the unfolding
rela- tionship between technology and forms of social life.

In my view, most of those in the Anglo sphere who split from tradi- tional social psychology would find
their own work highly congenial with
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one or more of these attributes. There may be differing emphases, but the unvoiced assumptions,
interests, and values are strikingly similar. Are we, then, on the threshold of locating a unifying vision
for a new and enriched form of social psychology? The question is both exciting and complex. There is
first the issue of unifying framework. Positivist/empiricist phi- losophy of knowledge had united large
segments of psychology as a disci- pline, and when this philosophic view was ravaged by the science
wars, there was no widely embraced replacement. I have argued that most of the central logics used to
unseat positivist tradition converge in a social con- structionist account of science. Whether those
whose work falls within the span of the present vision would also subscribe to a constructionist
metatheory remains an open question.

There is also the question of self-organizing. At least within North America and much of Europe, most of
those whose work is congenial with the vision emerging here would not identify themselves specifically
as social psychologists. This is partly because that designation is so entwined with the positivist
tradition that they no longer identify themselves in this way. Further, the freedom of exploration
invited by the postmodern turn did not lend itself to identifying with any particular discipline. For
myself, there are times when being identified as a psychologist can itself feel uncomfortable. This
problem of professional labels is not peculiar to psy- chology. The postmodern turn in academic life has
challenged the very idea of disciplinary boundaries, and new forms of intellectual hybrids are
continuously emerging. Consider, for example, the creation of cultural studies, science and technology
studies, queer studies, the history of con- sciousness, gender studies, and environmental studies.

I thus return again to my characterization of this book as a historical marker. For it may be possible
that in unfurling the banner of social psychol- ogy, it can launch the formation of a new and unifying
community of inquir y.

Kenneth J. Gergen

contents
1. 1 New Waves in Social Psychology: Research Practices—
Beyond the Disciplinary Epistemic and Academic Limits 1 Raudelio Machin Suarez
2. 2 Critical Psychology for Community Emancipation:
Insights from Socio-educative Praxis in Hybrid Settings 25 Beatriz Macı́as-Gó mez-Estern
3. 3 The Social-Historical Approach and Contemporary Social Psychology 55 Roberto Corral
Ruso and Mario Rodrı́guez-Mena Garcı́a
4. 4 After the End of the World: How to Orient Yourself in Thinking and in Life from Now
On? 83 Plı́nio W. Prado Jr
5. 5 Constitutional Patriotism and Neo-Thomism: Tendencies, Tensions, and Psycho-Social
Effects in Legal Culture 95 Gisá lio Cerqueira Filho and Gizlene Neder
6. 6 From Social Perception and Social Representation to
Social Imaginary in Social Psychology Theory and
Research 111 Raudelio Machin Suarez

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 7. 7 Re-entangling Childhoods: Post-essentialist Approaches
to Children’s Everyday Lives 139 Sebastian Rojas-Navarro and Patricio Rojas
8. 8 Performativity, Cybernetic Subjectivities and Politics of Psychology: Devices for Other
Agencies 167 Claudia Calquı́n Donoso and Ivá n Torres Apablaza
9. 9 Social Networks as Communities: Thinking the Social
Fabric Against Algorithms 189 Bernardita Labarca Lira and Mario I. Aguirre Rosemberg
10. 10 From Virtual Communities to Research on Virtuality: Emerging Concepts and
Research Challenges—
Ethnographic Research in the Digital Age 223 Raudelio Machin Suarez and Diana Viscay
Mantilla

Index 257