Reflections on Gergen's "Social Psychology as History" in Perspective

Abstract

Contrasting opinions about Gergen's (1973) article, "Social Psychology as History, "have continued since its publication. Relatively extreme early reactions to -the article appear to have given way to a consensus within mainstream social psychology that discounts the radical import of Gergen's message, places its significance in a historical context, and asserts that Gergen's pessimism is no longer warranted and the revolution he proclaimed no longer needed. The history of this controversy can be understood using concepts of assimilation/contrast and reactions to deviance. At the same time, the implicit historical embeddedness of reactions, including negative ones, and the value of a contextual approach to that history lend credence to Gergen's original radical thesis.

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