The Social Construction of What?

Author: Ian Hacking
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674812000
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 280

Book Description
Lost in the raging debate over the validity of social construction is the question of what, precisely, is being constructed. Facts, gender, quarks, reality? Ian Hacking’s book explores an array of examples to reveal the deep issues underlying contentious accounts of reality—especially regarding the status of the natural sciences.

The Social Construction of Reality

Author: Peter L. Berger
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1453215468
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 313

Book Description
A watershed event in the field of sociology, this text introduced “a major breakthrough in the sociology of knowledge and sociological theory generally” (George Simpson, American Sociological Review). In this seminal book, Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann examine how knowledge forms and how it is preserved and altered within a society. Unlike earlier theorists and philosophers, Berger and Luckmann go beyond intellectual history and focus on commonsense, everyday knowledge—the proverbs, morals, values, and beliefs shared among ordinary people. When first published in 1966, this systematic, theoretical treatise introduced the term social construction,effectively creating a new thought and transforming Western philosophy.

The Social Construction of the Person

Author: K.J. Gergen
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1461250765
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 376

Book Description
This volume grew out of a discussion between the editors at the Society for Experimental Social Psychology meeting in Nashville in 1981. For many years the Society has played a leading role in encouraging rigorous and sophisticated research. Yet, our discussion that day was occupied with what seemed a major problem with this fmely honed tradition; namely, it was preoccupied with "accurate renderings of reality," while generally insensitive to the process by which such renderings are achieved. This tradition presumed that there were "brute facts" to be discovered about human interaction, with little consideration of the social processes through which "factuality" is established. To what degree are accounts of persons constrained by the social process of rendering as opposed to the features of those under scrutiny? This concern with the social process by which persons are constructed was hardly ours alone. In fact, within recent years such concerns have been voiced with steadily increasing clarity across a variety of disciplines. Ethno methodologists were among the first in the social sciences to puncture the taken-for-granted realities of life. Many sociologists of science have also turned their attention to the way social organizations of scientists create the facts necessary to sustain these organizations. Historians of science have entered a similar enterprise in elucidating the social, economic and ideological conditions enabling certain formulations to flourish in the sciences while others are suppressed. Many social anthropologists have also been intrigued by cross-cultural variations in the concept of the human being.

The Social Construction of Intellectual Disability

Author: Mark Rapley
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521005296
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 268

Book Description
Intellectual disability is usually thought of as a form of internal, individual affliction, little different from diabetes, paralysis or chronic illness. This study, the first book-length application of discursive psychology to intellectual disability, shows that what we usually understand as being an individual problem is actually an interactional, or social, product. Through a range of case studies, which draw upon ethnomethodological and conversation analytic scholarship, the book shows how persons categorized as 'intellectually disabled' are produced, as such, in and through their moment-by-moment interaction with care staff and other professionals.

The Oxford Handbook of the Self

Author: Shaun Gallagher
Publisher: OUP UK
ISBN: 0199548013
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 759

Book Description
The Oxford Handbook of the Self explores a fascinating diversity of questions about our understanding of self from a variety of interdisciplinary perspectives, including philosophy, ethics, psychology, neuroscience, psychopathology, narrative, and postmodern theories.

Mad Travelers

Author: Ian Hacking
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674009547
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 260

Book Description
Reflections on the Reality of transient mental illnessThis text uses the case of Albert Dadas, the first diagnosed "mad traveller", to weigh the legitimacy of cultural versus physical symptoms in the diagnosis of psychiatric disorders. The author argues that psychological symptoms find niches where transient illnesses flourish.

A Philosophy of the Social Construction of Crime

Author: David Polizzi
Publisher: Policy Press
ISBN: 1447327322
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 104

Book Description
This book situates the social construction of crime and criminal behaviour within the philosophical context of phenomenology and explores how these constructions inform, and justify, the policies employed to address them. It is essential reading for academics and students interested in social theory and theories of criminology.

The Social Construction of Rationality

Author: Onno Bouwmeester
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1317530764
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 217

Book Description
There are many different forms of rationality. In current economic discourse the main focus is on instrumental rationality and optimizing, while organization scholars, behavioural economists and policy scientists focus more on bounded rationality and satisficing. The interplay with value rationality or expressive rationality is mainly discussed in philosophy and sociology, but never in an empirical way. This book shows that not one, but three different forms of rationality (subjective, social and instrumental) determine the final outcomes of strategic decisions executed by major organizations. Based on an argumentation analysis of six high-profile public debates, this book adds nuance to the concept of bounded rationality. The chapters show how it is socially constructed, and thus dependent on shared beliefs or knowledge, institutional context and personal interests. Three double case studies investigating the three rationalities illustrate how decision makers and stakeholders discuss the appropriateness of these rationalities for making decisions in different practice contexts. The first touches more on personal concerns, like wearing a niqab or looking at obscene art exposed in a public environment; the second investigates debates on improving the rights and position of specific minorities; and the third is based on the agreement on instrumental reasons for two kinds of investments, but the cost arguments are regarded less relevant when social norms or personal interests are violated. The Social Construction of Rationality is for those who study political economy, economic psychology and public policy, as well as economic theory and philosophy.

The Social Construction of Trust

Author: Linda R. Weber
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1461507790
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 202

Book Description
Based on in-depth interviews designed to determine what trust is, how it is built, and how it is destroyed, this important new resource provides extensive insight into the fundamental process of interpersonal trust in the day-to-day lives of average people. It furnishes qualitative data analysis and offers a detailed definition of trust in a sociological context. This unique text is a valuable reference for sociologists, social and clinical psychologists, and students in these disciplines.

The Social Construction of Race and Ethnicity in the United States

Author: Prince Brown
Publisher: Pearson
ISBN:
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 556

Book Description
This groundbreaking collection of classic and cutting edge sociological research gives special attention to the social construction of race and ethnicity in the United States. It offers an in-depth and eye-opening analysis of (a) the power of racial classification to shape our understanding of race and race relations, (b) the way in which the system came into being and remains, and (c) the real consequences this system has on life chances. The readings deal with five major themes: the personal experience of classification schemes; classifying people by race; ethnic classification; the persistence, functions, and consequences of social classification; and a new paradigm: transcending categories. For individuals who want to gain a fuller understanding of the impact the ideas of race has on a society that is consumed by it.