1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910392753503321

Autore

Long Wahbie

Titolo

A History of “Relevance” in Psychology [[electronic resource] /] / by Wahbie Long

Pubbl/distr/stampa

London : , : Palgrave Macmillan UK : , : Imprint : Palgrave Macmillan, , 2016

ISBN

1-137-47489-0

Edizione

[1st ed. 2016.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (XII, 222 p. 3 illus., 1 illus. in color.)

Collana

Palgrave Studies in the Theory and History of Psychology, , 2946-2460

Disciplina

150.9

Soggetti

Psychology

Social sciences—History

Critical psychology

Ethnopsychology

Personality

Difference (Psychology)

History of Psychology

Critical Psychology

Cross-Cultural Psychology

Personality and Differential Psychology

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references at the end of each chapters and index.

Nota di contenuto

Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. A History of 'Relevance' -- Chapter 3. Theorizing 'Relevance' -- Chapter 4. Themes in South African Psychology (1948-2011) -- Chapter 5. 'Relevance' and the SAPA-PIRSA Split -- Chapter 6. Science and Society in the Time of SAPA (1948-1961) -- Chapter 7. The Rise and Fall of 'Ethnic-National Relevance (1963-1977) -- Chapter 8. The Quest for 'Social Relevance' (1978-1993) -- Chapter 9. 'Relevance' in the Post-Apartheid Era (1994-2011) -- Chapter 10. Conclusion. .

Sommario/riassunto

Palgrave Studies in the Theory and History of Psychology Series Editor: Jack Martin, Burnaby Mouthain Endowed Professor of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Canada This book represents the first attempt to historicise and theorise appeals for ‘relevance’ in psychology. It argues



that the persistence of questions about the ‘relevance’ of psychology derives from the discipline’s terminal inability to define its subject matter, its reliance on a socially disinterested science to underwrite its knowledge claims, and its consequent failure to address itself to the needs of a rapidly changing world. The chapters go on to consider the ‘relevance’ debate within South African psychology, by critically analysing discourse of forty-five presidential, keynote and opening addresses delivered at annual national psychology congresses between 1950 and 2011, and observes how appeals for ‘relevance’ were advanced by reactionary, progressive and radical psychologists alike. The book presents, moreover, the provocative thesis that the revolutionary quest for ‘social relevance’ that began in the 1960s has been supplanted by an ethic of ‘market relevance’ that threatens to isolate the discipline still further from the anxieties of broader society. With powerful interest groups continuing to co-opt psychologists without relent, this is a development that only psychologists of conscience can arrest. .