SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION A Reader

′Social Construction: A Reader is a superb selection of classic and contemporary readings representing the major viewpoints central to social constructionism′ Journal of Community and Applied Psychology

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.

Dr. Gergen is Professor Emerita at Penn State University, Brandywine, in the Philadelphia area.  She has taught courses in many subfields in psychology and in Women′s Studies.  Her major academic focus has been on social constructionist theory and feminism.  Currently she is an officer in the Taos Institute, a non-profit educational organization.  She also advises Ph.D. students in applied social science fields.   Her work has taken her to many countries around the glove, most recently Nanjing, China.   Recent collaborators include Kenneth J. Gergen and Ellen Cole.

Kenneth J. Gergen is a Senior Research Professor in Psychology at Swarthmore College, and the President of the Taos Institute. He is internationally known for his contributions to social constructionist theory, technology and cultural change, the self, aging, education, and relational theory and practices. His major writings include, Realities and Relationships: Soundings in Social Construction, The Saturated Self: Dilemmas of Identity in Contemporary Life, and Relational Being: Beyond Self and Community. His most recent work Beyond the Tyranny of Testing: Relational Evaluation in Education (with Scherto Gill) offers a relational constructionist alternative to the destructive practices of testing and grading in education. Gergen lectures throughout the world, and has received numerous awards for his work, including honorary degrees in both the U.S. and Europe.