An Invitation to Social Construction

Kenneth J. Gergen is a Senior Research Professor in Psychology at Swarthmore College, and the President of the Taos Institute. He is internationally known for his contributions to social constructionist theory, technology and cultural change, the self, aging, education, and relational theory and practices. His major writings include, Realities and Relationships: Soundings in Social Construction, The Saturated Self: Dilemmas of Identity in Contemporary Life, and Relational Being: Beyond Self and Community. His most recent work Beyond the Tyranny of Testing: Relational Evaluation in Education (with Scherto Gill) offers a relational constructionist alternative to the destructive practices of testing and grading in education. Gergen lectures throughout the world, and has received numerous awards for his work, including honorary degrees in both the U.S. and Europe.

CHAPTER 1: SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION - FROM “WHAT IS” TO “WHAT COULD BE”
Together We Construct our Worlds
The Social Origins of the Real and the Good
Grounding Dialogues on Social Construction
From Deconstruction to Reconstruction
Reflective Pragmatism: The Working Vocabularies of the World
CHAPTER 2: CONSTRUCTING THE REAL AND THE GOOD
The Language We Live By
Everyday Conversation: The Power of the Unremarkable
Institutional Realities: Foucault on Power
Identity Politics: To Be or Not To Be
CHAPTER 3: HORIZONS OF HUMAN ENQUIRY
From Empiricism to Constructionism
Research Traditions in Transformation
Discourse Study: Exploring Constructed Worlds
Imagination in Action: Qualitative Enquiry
CHAPTER 4: THE RELATIONAL SELF
Generative Theory
Individualism: Separation and its Discontents
Self as Relationship: First Steps
Self as Relationship: The Emerging Vision
Mind as Relational Action
Multi-Being: What Shall We Become Together?
CHAPTER 5: DIALOGUE - CONFLICT AND TRANSFORMATION
Exploring Dialogue: Key Concepts
Dialogue and Difference
Toward Transformative Dialogue
CHAPTER 6: EDUCATION AS RELATIONAL PROCESS
Knowledge as Socially Constructed
Education as Relational Process
The Challenge of Student Evaluation
CHAPTER 7: THE HELPING PROFESSIONS - CO-CONSTRUCTION IN ACTION
Therapy as Social Construction
Collaborative Means to Human Well-being
Meaning and Medicine
CHAPTER 8: MAKING MEANING IN ORGANIZATIONS
Organizing Through Language
Relational Organizing: Key to the Future
The Organization as System
CHAPTER 9: SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION IN QUESTION
Realism: “But there is a World Out There!”
The Challenge of Moral Relativism
Missing Ingredients: The Body and Power
The Challenge of Moral Relativism