Some Postmodern Reflections on Social Psychology

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Abstract
This paper tentatively identifies a conceptual axis that, despite their fundamental differences, is common to both cognitivist social psychology and social constructionist social psychology. Drawing upon recent theorizations of the nature of the postmodern condition, the following conceptual axis is posited: accelerated turnover (instability)-transgression-consumption of spectacle. This emphasizes, for example, the possibility of change for individuals and social collectivities. In contrast, it is suggested that operating within cognitive and social constructionist social psychologies is the conceptual axis: stabilization-clarification-practicality. If social constructionism's lauded potential for critique is not to be thwarted, then it is important that the issues raised by the former axis are taken fully into account.

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