Kenneth J. Gergen – författare

Social Construction in Context explores the potentials of social constructionist theory when placed in diverse intellectual and practical contexts. It demonstrates the achievements of social constructionism, and what it can now offer various fields of inquiry, both academic, professional and applied, given the proliferation of the theory across the social sciences and humanities. First order issues of concern within the academic world, objectivity, truth, power and ideology, are now being augmented by widespread developments in practice - therapeutic, pedagogical, organizational and political. This book looks closely at these developments and examines both the positive potentials and limitations of social constructionist theory when applied to a variety of domains. It has been written in an accessible and scholarly manner making it suitable for a wide-ranging readership.

Social Construction: A Reader is a collection of classic and contemporary articles, representing the major viewpoints central to social constructionism. It provides the reader with an overview of the key empirical research ideas and papers written by an outstanding collection of international authors in each of the substantive areas of the field, including philosophical, social science, ethnography, cultural studies and feminist thought. These readings are bought together in one accessible volume and are organized thematically with editorial commentaries to provide an intellectual context and aid student learning. The Reader is comprised of seven parts:

- The Social Construction of the Real and the Good

- Constructing the Person: Culture and Critique

- Horizons of Inquiry

- The Relational Reconstruction of the Self

- Profusions of Practice

- Cultural Analysis

- Constructionism in Question

Social Construction: A Reader will be essential reading for students across the social sciences. It will be an invaluable resource, both used indepently and as complimentary to Kenneth J Gergen's seminal text, An Invitation to Social Construction, also published by SAGE Publications.

`The chapters are interesting as windows into wider debates beyond therapy to those within the human sciences over the organization of meaning and change in culture... the value of this book is that it makes it possible for the reader to step back and think that therapy may mean different things to different communities, that therapy is not the touchstone but only one of many social constructions' - British Psychological Society Counselling Psychology Review

This volume explores the exciting possibilities for the therapeutic process of adopting a social constructionist perspective. A key concern is with socially constructed lives. Our senses of self, identity and life purpose are socially and culturally embedded, but no single cultural `script' proves all-powerful. In social constructionist therapy, client and therapist work to co-create new, more satisfactory `stories' in ways which recognise their social, relational character.

The book firstly examines the theoretical basis for this process. It also looks at the implications for client-therapist relationships and discusses various approaches in practice, including `irreverent therapy', the `not-knowing therapist' and the role of reflexivity. A number of case studies are presented. The final section offers an exhilarating mix of overview, self-critique and agenda for the future.

This fascinating and carefully reasoned book develops the argument for human science as social construction. Demonstrating that descriptions of human action can neither be derived from nor corrected by scientific observation, Gergen provides a bold interdisciplinary challenge to traditional views, thus clearing the way for significant alterations in scientific practice. In the preface to the Second Edition, Gergen describes the major movements taking place since the First Edition was published over a decade ago.

Social Construction in Context explores the potentials of social constructionist theory when placed in diverse intellectual and practical contexts. It demonstrates the achievements of social constructionism, and what it can now offer various fields of inquiry, both academic, professional and applied, given the proliferation of the theory across the social sciences and humanities. First order issues of concern within the academic world, objectivity, truth, power and ideology, are now being augmented by widespread developments in practice - therapeutic, pedagogical, organizational and political. This book looks closely at these developments and examines both the positive potentials and limitations of social constructionist theory when applied to a variety of domains. It has been written in an accessible and scholarly manner making it suitable for a wide-ranging readership.

Die Akzentuierung des Positiven ist ein Grundsatz, der im geschäftlichen Alltag von Organisationen oft verloren geht. Wertschätzendes Organisieren liefert hier neben einem innovativen theoretischen Rahmen auch neue Praxisformen, die wachsende Effizienz-, Leistungs- und Qualitätsanforderungen erfüllen. Wertschätzendes Organisieren setzt dabei zwei zentrale Gedanken um: dass wir uns insbesondere für die Dinge engagieren, die uns etwas bedeuten und die wertvoll für uns sind, und dass diese Bedeutungen und Werte in Beziehungen hergestellt werden.Im Mittelpunkt dieses Bandes steht der prominente Text von Kenneth Gergen et al. »Die Wertschätzende Organisation« (Titel der US-amerikanischen Originalausgabe: »The Appreciative Organisation«), der hier erstmalig in deutscher Übersetzung vorliegt. Experten aus unterschiedlichen Berufsfeldern diskutieren die neue Konzeption und untersuchen ihre Praxistauglichkeit.