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This book examines the theoretical developments in the field of Action Research from a historical perspective. The central focus of the investigation is the concepts of democracy and subjectivity as defined by the field's various traditions. To address this issue, this book offers a thorough investigation of the theoretical and historical underpinnings of Action Research in order to argue that such a clarification allows for a transcendence of the distinction between theory and practice in political action. This transcendence will be achieved with the theories of the German critical psychologist Klaus Holzkamp and his interpretation of subjectivity and democracy. Holzkamp establishes a comprehensive mode of change based on the contradiction of existing possibilities for action and restrictions in a concretely given empirical situation.
This book is aimed at History of Psychology Classes, Social Workers, Activism Researchers, Undergraduate Courses in Critical Thinking and Political Action, and Decolonial Theory in Psychology.
List of contents
Chapter 1. Introduction: What is Action Research?.- Part 1: The emergence of Action Research.- Chapter 2. The Founding Fathers - Moreno, Collier, Lewin.- Chapter 3. Pragmatic and Participatory Action Research - the Northern and Southern Traditions.- Part 2: Subjectivity, Democracy, and Action Research.- Chapter 4. The Lewinian Tradition.- Chapter 5. The Northern Tradition of pragmatic Action Research.- Chapter 6. The Southern Tradition.- Part 3: Klaus Holzkamp and the Concept of Subjectivity.- Chapter 7. What is German Critical Psychology?.- Chapter 8. Subjectivity and Democracy in the Tradition of German Critical Psychology.- Part 4: Action Research and Practice Research.- Chapter 9. New grounds for Action Research?.
About the author
Martin Dege joined the Pratt Institute in 2020. He has worked at the American University of Paris, the University of Potsdam, the University of Konstanz, the University of Hamburg, and Yale University in the past. Dege is the recipient of various research scholarships, among others, the Marie Curie Program of the EU, the Fritz-Thyssen Foundation, and the German Academic Scholarship Foundation. Dege's research follows three strands. On the empirical level, he investigates how concepts of crisis shape our everyday lives and the narratives we deploy to make meaning of the world and ourselves. On the theoretical level, he is interested in the historical emergence of psychology as a discipline, more specifically, how various theoretical ideas have been intertwined with political interests and power struggles to form the discipline as it stands today. On the institutional level, he explores concepts of digital humanities and how digitalization changes both research and teaching.
