The theory of social representations: overview and critique
There is no doubt that the theory of social representations is one of the most popular, but at the same time one of the most controversial theories in contemporary social psychology. Its author, Serge Moscovici, conceived it with the explicit intention to create an alternative to the prevailing indi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Slovenian Psychologists' Association
2000-03-01
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| Series: | Psihološka Obzorja |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://psiholoska-obzorja.si/arhiv_clanki/2000_1/cernigoj.pdf |
| _version_ | 1818719209233842176 |
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| author | Matej Černigoj |
| author_facet | Matej Černigoj |
| author_sort | Matej Černigoj |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | There is no doubt that the theory of social representations is one of the most popular, but at the same time one of the most controversial theories in contemporary social psychology. Its author, Serge Moscovici, conceived it with the explicit intention to create an alternative to the prevailing individualistic and psychologising, North-American social psychology. The theory of social representations is aimed at being a new social-psyhological paradigm, which would enable this scientific field to occupy a central place among the social sciencies. This place is supposed to be reserved for the field that would be able to connect the individual and the collective level of explanation of human behaviour. Because of such promisses, the theory of social representations took over the immagination of many european scholars, and research that refers to it in some way is abundant. However, there is also a darker side to the theory. It is incomplete and full of internal inconsistencies. Some authors repeatedly stress these points, but apparently without any considerable success. The theory of social representations has recently been presented in Slovenia (Vec, 1999), but without any serious attempt of evaluation and therefore, in my view, in an unsatisfactory way. Here I try to fill this gap, and so I focus on the logical structure of the theory and at its existing critiques. At the same time I try to explain the reasons for the theory's great popularity from a historical and socio-psychological point of view. In order to accomplish all that, I try to present the theory of social representations first, which — although already attempted many times — is by no means an easy task. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-17T20:03:18Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7e0906f216b04623935c7a5f91700873 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2350-5141 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-17T20:03:18Z |
| publishDate | 2000-03-01 |
| publisher | Slovenian Psychologists' Association |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Psihološka Obzorja |
| spelling | doaj.art-7e0906f216b04623935c7a5f917008732022-12-21T21:34:24ZengSlovenian Psychologists' AssociationPsihološka Obzorja2350-51412000-03-019123382The theory of social representations: overview and critiqueMatej ČernigojThere is no doubt that the theory of social representations is one of the most popular, but at the same time one of the most controversial theories in contemporary social psychology. Its author, Serge Moscovici, conceived it with the explicit intention to create an alternative to the prevailing individualistic and psychologising, North-American social psychology. The theory of social representations is aimed at being a new social-psyhological paradigm, which would enable this scientific field to occupy a central place among the social sciencies. This place is supposed to be reserved for the field that would be able to connect the individual and the collective level of explanation of human behaviour. Because of such promisses, the theory of social representations took over the immagination of many european scholars, and research that refers to it in some way is abundant. However, there is also a darker side to the theory. It is incomplete and full of internal inconsistencies. Some authors repeatedly stress these points, but apparently without any considerable success. The theory of social representations has recently been presented in Slovenia (Vec, 1999), but without any serious attempt of evaluation and therefore, in my view, in an unsatisfactory way. Here I try to fill this gap, and so I focus on the logical structure of the theory and at its existing critiques. At the same time I try to explain the reasons for the theory's great popularity from a historical and socio-psychological point of view. In order to accomplish all that, I try to present the theory of social representations first, which — although already attempted many times — is by no means an easy task.http://psiholoska-obzorja.si/arhiv_clanki/2000_1/cernigoj.pdfsocial psychologysocial representationscollective representationscritiquetheory |
| spellingShingle | Matej Černigoj The theory of social representations: overview and critique Psihološka Obzorja social psychology social representations collective representations critique theory |
| title | The theory of social representations: overview and critique |
| title_full | The theory of social representations: overview and critique |
| title_fullStr | The theory of social representations: overview and critique |
| title_full_unstemmed | The theory of social representations: overview and critique |
| title_short | The theory of social representations: overview and critique |
| title_sort | theory of social representations overview and critique |
| topic | social psychology social representations collective representations critique theory |
| url | http://psiholoska-obzorja.si/arhiv_clanki/2000_1/cernigoj.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT matejcernigoj thetheoryofsocialrepresentationsoverviewandcritique AT matejcernigoj theoryofsocialrepresentationsoverviewandcritique |