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The Lewinian Tradition

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Action Research and Critical Psychology

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

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Abstract

This chapter examines Kurt Lewin’s body of work concerning its underlying concepts of subjectivity and democracy. Over the course of his career, Lewin contributed to debates in the philosophy of science, questions of methodology, and research methods, and participated in the political discourse of his time. Despite the broad spectrum of contributions, this chapter shows how Lewin relied on conceptualizations of democracy and subjectivity, which he formed early in his career. In line with his field-theoretical approach, democracy was rendered mainly as a tool that guaranteed a functional and productive society, and subjectivity was understood as primarily determined by the forces in the field.

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  1. Social Science and Cultural Studies, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY, USA

    Martin Dege

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Dege, M. (2023). The Lewinian Tradition. In: Action Research and Critical Psychology. Theory and History in the Human and Social Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-31197-0_4

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