Debate "Social Constructionism"

Moderation: Jo Reichertz and Barbara Zielke

In FQS 9(1) we launched a new debate: on social constructionism. In our view, social constructionism is, among other things, a good metatheory for grounding qualitative psychological research. In this sense, a debate on the constructionist perspective—often applied to psychological inquiry—is invaluable for qualitative social research in general.

Social constructionism invites celebrating a new kind of psychology that understands the challenges of the linguistic and the cultural turn turns and tries to inject them into the discipline. In their critical reflection of the discipline's academic mainstream, constructionist psychologists demonstrate that "objective knowledge" is historically and culturally contingent. They articulate what it means to give up culture-centric "universalisms" in an era of globalization and to how to understand psychological phenomena and functions as cultural constructions, not only in the field of academic research and theorizing, but also in various areas of applied psychology. Whereas social constructionism is well known and subject to scholarly debate debates in the English-speaking context, in German (and Swiss, Austrian) psychology the crucial contents and characteristics of a social constructionist psychology are hardly known

Today various orientations in academic and applied psychology describe themselves as "social constuctionist." Whereas many varieties of constructionism draw on postmodernist and post-structuralist theories, several constructionist writers focus mainly on a rather pragmatic view of language and construction (e.g. Kenneth GERGEN) or on a general theory of dialogical understanding (e.g. John SHOTTER). Discursive psychology often is defined via the specific method of psychological discourse analysis and there are constructionist oriented branches of cultural psychology, as for example the programmatic theory of the dialogical self (Hubert HERMANS & Harry KEMPEN). Writings in the field of critical (social) psychology have substantially coined constructionist theory and given it fresh impetus and new aspects (see, e.g., texts by Ian PARKER, Valerie WALKERDINE, Carla WILLIG, or John CROMBY).

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Certainly, this debate is not complete with the publishing of this first round as we wish for further comments and articles to supplement our discussion. If you are interested to participate in this debate, please contact Jo REICHERTZ or Barbara ZIELKE.

Already published:

Editorial: Theories that matter. On Some Pragmatic Aspects of Social Constructionism
Jo Reichertz & Barbara Zielke (Germany)
FQS 9(1)

Full text German   Full text English   Full text Spanish

Dialogic Transformation in Therapeutic Contexts. Metaphors, Stories and Parables—Manners of Conduct and Speaking
Klaus G. Deissler (Germany)
FQS 9(1)

Full text German   Abstract English   Abstract Spanish

Limited = Limiting Reading of Social Constructionism: A Reply to Carl Ratner's "Epistemological, Social, and Political Conundrums in Social Constructionism"
Pascal Dey (Switzerland)
FQS 9(1)

Full text English   Abstract German   Abstract Spanish

Abwehr durch Einvernahme. Zum Auftritt des Sozialen Konstruktionismus in der deutschen akademischen Psychologie [Resistance through Integration: On the Appearance of Social Constructionism in German Academic Psychology]
Peter Mattes (Germany)
FQS 9(1)

Full text German

Social Constructionist Psychology and its Application. Possibilities for a Reorientation
Johannes von Tiling (Germany)
FQS 9(1)

Full text German   Abstract English   Abstract Spanish

From FQS Interviews

Ken Gergen
in Conversation With Peter Matthes & Ernst Schraube
FQS 5(3)

Full text German   Full text English   Abstract Spanish

• Social Constructionism as Cultism. Comments on: "'Old-Stream' Psychology Will Disappear With the Dinosaurs!" Kenneth Gergen in Conversation With Peter Mattes and Ernst Schraube, by Carl Ratner, FQS 6(1)

• The Case for Dialogue. Reply to: "Social Constructionism as Cultism," Carl Ratner, December 2004, by Barbara Zielke, FQS 6(2)

• Epistemological, Social, and Political Conundrums in Social Constructionism, by Carl Ratner, FQS 7(1)

• Not "Anything Goes." A Critical Assessment of Constructionism and Its Misinterpretation. A Comment on Carl Ratner's "Epistemological, Social,and Political Constructionism", by Barbara Zielke, FQS 7(1)

• Against the Luxury of Misunderstanding. Revisiting the Debate between Carl Ratner and Barbara Zielke on an Interview with Kenneth J. Gergen and his Theory of Social Constructionism, by Jürgen van Oorschot & Lars Allolio-Näcke, FQS 7(2)

Ken Gergen
in Conversation With César Cisneros-Puebla
FQS 9(1)

Full text English   Full text Spanish   Abstract German

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