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Action Research and Critical Psychology

An Investigation of Subjectivity and Participation

  • Book
  • © 2023

Overview

  • Offers a thorough analysis of the history of Action Research
  • Introduces the theories of Klaus Holzkamp in a new light
  • Offers a unique reflection on the combination of empirical social science research and political action

Part of the book series: Theory and History in the Human and Social Sciences (THHSS)

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Table of contents (9 chapters)

  1. Part II

  2. Part III

  3. Part IV

Keywords

About this book

This book examines the theoretical developments in the field of Action Research from a historical perspective. The central focus of the investigation is the concepts of democracy and subjectivity as defined by the field’s various traditions. To address this issue, this book offers a thorough investigation of the theoretical and historical underpinnings of Action Research in order to argue that such a clarification allows for a transcendence of the distinction between theory and practice in political action. This transcendence will be achieved with the theories of the German critical psychologist Klaus Holzkamp and his interpretation of subjectivity and democracy. Holzkamp establishes a comprehensive mode of change based on the contradiction of existing possibilities for action and restrictions in a concretely given empirical situation.

This book is aimed at History of Psychology Classes, Social Workers, Activism Researchers, Undergraduate Courses in Critical Thinking and Political Action, and Decolonial Theory in Psychology.


Authors and Affiliations

  • Social Science and Cultural Studies, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, USA

    Martin Dege

About the author

Martin Dege joined the Pratt Institute in 2020. He has worked at the American University of Paris, the University of Potsdam, the University of Konstanz, the University of Hamburg, and Yale University in the past. Dege is the recipient of various research scholarships, among others, the Marie Curie Program of the EU, the Fritz-Thyssen Foundation, and the German Academic Scholarship Foundation. Dege's research follows three strands. On the empirical level, he investigates how concepts of crisis shape our everyday lives and the narratives we deploy to make meaning of the world and ourselves. On the theoretical level, he is interested in the historical emergence of psychology as a discipline, more specifically, how various theoretical ideas have been intertwined with political interests and power struggles to form the discipline as it stands today. On the institutional level, he explores concepts of digital humanities and how digitalization changes both research and teaching.

Bibliographic Information

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