Deconstructing social psychology

Abstract

An important volume, it represents the first systematic insinuation of postmodern critical thought into the field of scientific psychology. The 15 contributors are, for the most part, British psychologists of significant reputation. Their chief concern is with the discursive conventions current within psychology: their legitimacy, their rhetorical effects, and their political and ideological grounding. Relying primarily on developments within literary deconstruction, cultural studies, critical theory, and feminist thought, the essays range over such topics as the rhetorical devices by which objectivity and authority are achieved, the sociopolitical implications of social and cognitive psychology, and the advantages and disadvantages of deconstructing the texts of psychological science. Although uneven in quality and scope, the volume is especially useful in demonstrating, in clear and compelling form, the relevance to psychology of works by Derrida, Foucault, and other postmodern thinkers. Recommended for advanced undergraduates and above.

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