Realities and Relationships

A true landmark in the development of constructionist perspectives, Gergen's book is a powerful tour de force through the existing mindscape of psychology and the other human sciences. It is by far the best exposure of readers to the intellectual world of constructionism in the literature so far. -- Jaan Valsiner, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Drawing from social and literary accounts of discourse, Gergen outlines the major elements of a social constructionist perspective and illustrates its potential, with an aim to initiate debate on the future of constructionist pursuits in the human sciences generally and psychology in particular.Recent attempts to challenge the primacy of reason—and its realization in foundationalist accounts of knowledge and cognitive formulations of human action—have focused on processes of discourse. Drawing from social and literary accounts of discourse, Kenneth Gergen considers these challenges to empiricism under the banner of “social construction.” His aim is to outline the major elements of a social constructionist perspective, to illustrate its potential, and to initiate debate on the future of constructionist pursuits in the human sciences generally and psychology in particular.