Positioning and Personhood

Abstract

A key assumption of Positioning Theory is that it is the active occupation and experiencing of positions within our interactivity with others that play a critically important part in our development as persons. This chapter begins with a conceptual clarification of what it is to be a person, a prerequisite for recognizing the necessity of a non-reductive social ontology of personhood, which then is briefly discussed. With these conceptual and ontological clarifications in place, the lives of persons are considered in ways that are intended to open up additional avenues for the development of a Positioning Theory of personhood and invite others to consider and critique them. Such extensions are possible at both microdevelopmental and macrodevelopmental lifespan levels of ontogeny. The microdevelopmental level (position exchange theory) includes the exchange of, and movement between, positions at particular times and places in the conversations, interactions, and lives of persons. The macrodevelopmental level (life positioning analysis) focuses on longer spans of personal development that enable examination of continuance, modification, integration, and alteration of life positions, perspectives, and possibilities in relation to life projects, challenges, and existential concerns.

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