From Epistemological Critique to Moral Discourse: Reflections on the Social Constructionist Movement in Social Psychology
Abstract
Proponents of the social constructionist movement in social psychology have effectively represented their epistemological perspective. Yet the entrenched opposition they have encountered is based less on epistemological than political considerations: the threat constructionism poses to the "positivist compromise," in which social scientists are given institutional support from political and economic elites in return for usable technologies of social control. To counter this opposition, constructionism will have to recast the social scientist as moralist rather than technocrat. Constructionism's own prescriptive capacity, however, is problematic, given the critical and relativizing light it casts on all models of social behavior. Some constructionists have begun imparting a moral dimension to constructionist analysis.
Department
History; Business, Politics and Security Studies
Publication Date
1-1-1992
Journal Title
Canadian Psychology / Psychologie canadienne
Publisher
APA
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1037/h0078727
Document Type
Article
Recommended Citation
Cerullo, J. J. “From Epistemological Critique to Moral Discourse: Reflections on the Social Constructionist Movement in Social Psychology,” Canadian Psychologist, July 1992