Skip to main content
  • 268 Accesses

Introduction

The relationship between psychology and activism has taken many forms. Throughout the history of the discipline, psychologists have used psychological research in order to understand and address issues of inequality and injustice, to promote social and political change, while others have taken activism and social movements as objects of inquiry. Some of the most powerful and radical activism within psychology has come from those who have challenged the power structures and practices of the discipline itself. This rich, though often omitted, history of activism in psychology has informed and inspired an ongoing tradition of critical activist work in and around psychology. This work has persisted and flourished despite implicit and explicit efforts to marginalize critical, radical voices throughout psychology’s history (e.g., Deegan, 1988). Currently, the proliferation of such work is threatened and constrained, even as it is experiencing a resurgence in many parts of the...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Cantril, H. (1941/2002). The psychology of social movements. NJ: Rutgers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, K. B., & Clark, M. K. (1939). The development of consciousness of self and the emergence of racial identification in Negro preschool children. Journal of Social Psychology, 10(4), 591–599.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coalition for an Ethical Psychology. (2011). Background statement on annulment of the APA’s PENS report. Retrieved from http://www.ethicalpsychology.org/materials/PENS_Annulment_Background_Statement.pdf.

  • Deegan, M. (1988). W.E.B. Du Bois and the women of hull-house, 1895–1899. The American Sociologist, 19(4), 301–311.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fine, M., & Burns, A. (2003). Class notes: Toward a critical psychology of class and schooling. Journal of Social Issues, 59(4), 841–860.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fine, M., & Torre, M. E. (2006). Intimate details: Participatory action research in prison. Action Research, 4(3), 253–269.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fox, M., & Fine, M. (2012). Circulating critical research: Reflections on performance and moving inquiry into action. In G. Cannela & S. Steinberg (Eds.), Critical qualitative research reader (pp. 153–165). New York: Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hollingworth, L. (1914). Variability as related to sex differences in achievement. American Journal of Sociology, 19, 510–530.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lykes, M. B., & Coquillon, E. D. (2009). Psychosocial trauma, poverty, and human rights in communities emerging from war. In D. Fox, I. Prilleltensky, & S. Austin (Eds.), Critical psychology II (pp. 285–299). London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parker, I. (2007). Revolution in psychology: Alienation to emancipation. London: Pluto Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parker, I. (2009). Critical psychology and revolution Marxism. Theory & Psychology, 19(1), 71–92.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pettit, M. (2011). The SPSSI task force on sexual orientation, the nature of sex, and the contours of activist science. Journal of Social Issues, 67, 92–105.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reisner. (2003). Psychic trauma and the seductions of a painful past. Studies in Gender and Sexuality, 4(3), 263–286.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rutherford, A., Marecek, J., & Sheese, K. (2012). Psychology of women and gender. In D. K. Freedheim & I. Weiner (Eds.), Handbook of psychology: History of psychology (pp. 279–301). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rutherford, A., Unger, R., & Cherry, F. (2011). Reclaiming SPSSI’s sociological past: Marie Jahoda and the immersion tradition in social psychology. Journal of Social Issues, 67(1), 42–58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Solomon, F., & Fishman, J. R. (1964). Youth and peace: A psychosocial study of student peace demonstrators in Washington, DC. Journal of Social Issues, 20(4), 54–73.

    Google Scholar 

  • Torre, M. E., & Fine, M. (2011). A wrinkle in time: Tracing a legacy of public science through community self-surveys and participatory action research. Journal of Social Issues, 67(1), 106–121.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kate Sheese .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this entry

Cite this entry

Sheese, K., Liu, W. (2014). Activism. In: Teo, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Critical Psychology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5583-7_4

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5583-7_4

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-5582-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-5583-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics