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This groundbreaking book is the first to explore the implications of postmodernist ideas for psychology. It examines central themes of postmodernism as they relate to psychology - for example, the nature of the self, locally situated rather than universal knowledge and the pivotal role of language in social life.
The contributors outline the new possibilities for psychology, setting theoretical reformulations alongside implications for psychological practice and method. The book presents critique as well as support for postmodern perspectives, from feminist critique of postmodern `deconstruction' to argument with the usefulness of sharp distinctions between a `modern' and `postmodern' psychology.
List of contents
Introduction - Steinar Kvale
From the Archaeology of the Psyche to the Architecture of Cultural Landscapes
Toward a Postmodern Psychology - Kenneth J Gergen
Postmodern Psychology - Steinar Kvale
A Contradiction in Terms?
`Getting in Touch' - John Shotter
The Meta-Methodology of a Postmodern Science of Mental Life
Postmodern Subjects - Mike Michael
Towards a Transgressive Social Psychology
Postmodernism and the Human Sciences - Patti Lather
An Introduction to Deconstructionist Psychology - Paul Richer
Postmodernism and Subjectivity - Lars L[/]ovlie
Postmodern Self-Psychology Mirrored in Science and the Arts - Neil Young
Postmodern Epistemology of Practice - Donald E Polkinghorne
The Epic of Disbelief - Louis A Sass
The Postmodernist Turn in Contemporary Psychoanalysis
From Mod Mascu-linity to Post-Mod Macho - Mary Gergen
A Feminist Re-Play
From Theory to Practice and Back Again - Seth Chaiklin
What Does Postmodern Philosophy Contribute to Psychological Science?
`Postmodernism' and `Late Capitalism' - Peter Madsen
On Terms and Realities
About the author
Steinar Kvale (1938-2008) was professor of educational psychology and director of the Centre of Qualitative Research at the University of Aarhus, and adjunct faculty at Saybrook Institute, San Francisco. He was born in Norway and graduated from the University of Oslo. He continued his studies at the University of Heidelberg with an Alexander von Humboldt scholarship and was a visiting professor at Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, and West Georgia University, Carrolton, and the University of Bergen. His long-term concern was with the implications of such continental philosophies as phenomenology, hermeneutics, and dialectics for psychology and education.
Summary
Explores the basis for a postmodern psychology. Contributors examine key themes within postmodernist/post-structuralist theory such as: the nature of knowledge, the central role of language, concept of self, and their implications for reworking psychology in the "postmodern world".
Report
`This far-ranging exploration of the implications of a postmodern culture for psychology represents an international array of perspectives... it examines the relations of postmodernism to feminism, capitalism, methodology, the human sciences, the arts, epistemology, subjectivity, science and psychoanalysis. In doing so, it provides a portrait of psychology at the cutting edge of developments in the arts and humanities. Until recently, these developments had been simply ignored by psychology. Now, they are beginning to be bandied about by the appropriation of poorly understood phrases and ideas. This volume should add real depth to that dialogue' - The Humanistic Psychologist
`In this very readable volume, psychologists have gathered around them postmodernists from other disciplines to celebrate (albeit with a couple of dissenting voices) postmodernity' - British Journal of Psychology
