Abstract
This chapter explores the connection between the theory and practice of critical psychology, focusing upon the critique of essentialism, individualism and universalism of mainstream social psychology and laying the basis for an approach to politics and justice working in and against the discipline. I argue in this chapter that contemporary ‘critical psychology’ is always already necessarily social and that as a form of critical cultural-historical psychology, it is always already necessarily political. This political nature of cultural-historical psychology needs to be clarified, however, and to be contrasted with the ways in which ‘politics’ is sometimes understood in ‘community psychology’. In this chapter I address questions of ‘alienation’, the ways critical psychology configures itself as a response to mainstream psychology as an ideological warrant for capitalism. I describe emerging areas of research in critical psychology, taking the particular example of critical psychology in Britain to illustrate the opportunities and dangers to our concern with social justice as intimately linked with anti-capitalist struggle.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Badiou, A. (2001). Ethics: An essay on the understanding of evil. London: Verso.
Banister, P., Bunn, G., Burman, E., Daniels, J., Duckett, P., Goodley, D. et al. (2011). Qualitative methods in psychology: A research guide (Rev. 2nd ed.). Buckingham, UK: Open University Press.
Basaglia, F. (1987). Psychiatry inside out: Selected writings of Franco Basaglia. New York: Columbia University Press.
Billig, M. (1976). Social psychology and intergroup relations. London: Academic Press.
Brassier, R. (2003). Axiomatic heresy: The non-philosophy of Francois Laruelle. Radical Philosophy, 121, 24–35.
Brook, P. (2009). The alienated heart: Hochschild’s “emotional labour” thesis and the anticapitalist politics of alienation. Capital & Class, 33(7), 7–31.
Brown, S., & Stenner, P. (2009). Psychology without foundations: History, philosophy and psychological theory. London: Sage.
Burman, E. (Ed.). (1990). Feminists and psychological practice. London: Sage.
Burman, E., Aitken, G., Alldred, P., Allwood, R., Billington, T., Goldberg, B., et al. (1996). Psychology discourse practice: From regulation to resistance. London: Taylor & Francis.
Burman, E., Alldred, P., Bewley, C., Goldberg, B., Heenan, C., Marks, D., et al. (1996). Challenging women: Psychology’s exclusions, feminist possibilities. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press.
Canguilhem, G. (1958). What is psychology? In I. Parker (Ed.). (2011) Critical psychology: Critical concepts in psychology, volume 1, dominant models of psychology and their limits (pp. 416–428). London/New York: Routledge.
Dafermos, M., Marvakis, A., Mentinis, M., Painter, D. and Triliva, S. (Eds.). (2013). Critical psychology in a changing world: Building bridges and expanding the dialogue, special issue. Annual Review of Critical Psychology, 10.
Dafermos, M., Marvakis, A., & Triliva, S. (Eds.). (2006). Critical psychology in a changing world: Contributions from different geo-political regions [Special issue]. Annual Review of Critical Psychology, 5.
Danziger, K. (1990). Constructing the subject: Historical origins of psychological research. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Dashtipour, P. (2012). Social identity in question: Construction, subjectivity and critique. London: Routledge.
De Vos, J. (2012). Psychologisation in times of globalisation. London and New York: Routledge.
De Vos, J. (2013). Psychologization and the subject of late modernity. London: Palgrave.
Fozooni, B. (2011). What is critical Social Research? Volume 1. Peterborough, UK: Fastprint Publishing.
Fraser, N. (2013). Fortunes of feminism: From state-managed capitalism to neoliberal crisis. London: Verso.
Gordo López, Á. J. (2000). On the psychologization of critical psychology. Annual Review of Critical Psychology, 2, 55–71.
Gordo López, Á. J., & Cleminson, R. (2004). Techno-sexual landscapes: Changing relations between technology and sexuality. London: Free Association Books.
Gordo López, Á. J., & Parker, I. (Eds.). (1999). Cyberpsychology. London: Palgrave.
Grech, S. (2015). From critical disability studies to critical global disability studies. In I. Parker (Ed.), Handbook of critical psychology. Abingdon, UK/New York: Routledge.
Haaken, J., & Reavey, P. (Eds.). (2009). Memory matters: Contexts for understanding sexual abuse recollections. London: Routledge.
Harper, D. (1994). The professional construction of “paranoia” and the discursive uses of diagnostic criteria. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 67, 131–143.
Henriques, J., Hollway, W., Urwin, C., Venn, C., & Walkerdine, V. (1984). Changing the subject: Psychology, social regulation and subjectivity. London: Methuen.
Hochschild, A. R. (1983). The managed heart: Commercialisation of human feeling. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Hollway, W. (2008). Doing intellectual disagreement differently? Psychoanalysis, Culture and Society, 13, 366–373.
Hollway, W., & Jefferson, T. (2000). Doing qualitative research differently: Free association, narrative and the interview method. London: Sage.
Ingleby, D. (1985). ‘Professionals as socializers: The “psy complex”’. In I. Parker (Ed.) (2011) Critical psychology: Critical concepts in psychology, volume 1, dominant models of psychology and their limits (pp. 279–307). London/New York: Routledge.
Kagan, C., Burton, M., Duckett, P., Lawthom, R., & Siddiquee, A. (2011). Critical community psychology: Critical action and social change. Cambridge: Blackwell.
Kitzinger, C. (2000). Doing feminist conversation analysis. Feminism & Psychology, 10(2), 163–193.
Kovel, J. (2007). The enemy of nature: The end of capitalism or the end of the world? (2nd Rev. ed.). London: Zed Books.
Mandel, E. (1974). Late capitalism. London: New Left Books.
Mandel, E., & Novack, G. (1970). The Marxist theory of alienation. New York: Pathfinder Press.
McHoul, A., & Rapley, M. (2005). A case of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder diagnosis: Sir Karl and Francis B. slug it out on the consulting room floor. Discourse & Society, 16(3), 419–449.
McLaughlin, K. (2011). Surviving identity: Vulnerability and the psychology of recognition. London and New York: Routledge.
McLaughlin, T. (1996). Hearing voices: An emancipatory discourse analytic approach. Changes: An International Journal of Psychology and Psychotherapy, 14, 238–243.
Newman, F., & Holzman, L. (1993). Lev Vygotsky, revolutionary scientist. London: Routledge.
Parker, I. (Ed.). (1999). Deconstructing psychotherapy. London: Sage.
Parker, I. (2005). Qualitative psychology: Introducing radical research. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press.
Parker, I. (2007). Revolution in psychology: Alienation to emancipation. London: Pluto.
Parker, I. (2009). Critical psychology and revolutionary Marxism. Theory & Psychology, 19(1), 71–92.
Parker, I. (Ed.). (2011a). Critical psychology (four-volumes). London/New York: Routledge.
Parker, I. (2011b). Lacanian psychoanalysis: Revolutions in subjectivity. London/New York: Routledge.
Parker, I. (2012). Discursive social psychology now. British Journal of Social Psychology, 51, 471–477.
Parker, I. (Ed.). (2015). Handbook of critical psychology. Abingdon, UK/New York: Routledge.
Parker, I., & Spears, R. (Eds.). (1996). Psychology and society: Radical theory and practice. London: Pluto Press.
Prilleltensky, I., & Nelson, G. (2002). Doing psychology critically: Making a difference in diverse settings. Houndmills, UK/New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Reicher, S. (1982). The determination of collective behaviour. In I. Parker (Ed.). (2011) Critical psychology: Critical concepts in psychology, volume 4, alternatives and visions for change. London/New York: Routledge. and, In H. Tajfel (Ed.), Social identity and lntergroup relations (pp. 41–83). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Rose, N. (1996). Inventing ourselves: Psychology, power and personhood. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sohn-Rethel, A. (1978). Intellectual and manual labour: A critique of epistemology. London: Macmillan.
Spandler, H. (2006). Asylum to action: Paddington day hospital, therapeutic communities and beyond. London/Philadelphia, PA: Jessica Kingsley.
Stokols, D. (1975). Toward a psychological theory of alienation. Psychological Review, 82(1), 26–44.
Went, R. (2000). Globalization: Neoliberal challenge, radical responses. London: Pluto.
Wilber, K. (2001). A theory of everything: An integral vision for business, politics, science and spirituality. New York: Gateway.
Wilkinson, S., & Kitzinger, C. (Eds.). (1995). Feminism and discourse. London: Sage.
Young, R. M. (1994). Mental space. London: Process Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Parker, I. (2020). Critical Psychology as Cultural-Historical Psychology: Political Dimensions and Limitations of Psychological Knowledge. In: Fleer, M., González Rey, F., Jones, P. (eds) Cultural-Historical and Critical Psychology. Perspectives in Cultural-Historical Research, vol 8. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2209-3_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2209-3_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-15-2208-6
Online ISBN: 978-981-15-2209-3
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)