A History of ôRelevanceö in Psychology (Palgrave Studies in the Theory and History of Psychology)

This book represents the first attempt to historicise and theorise appeals for ærelevanceÆ in psychology. It argues that the persistence of questions about the ærelevanceÆ of psychology derives from the disciplineÆs 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 ærelevanceÆ 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 ærelevanceÆ were advanced by reactionary, progressive and radical psychologists alike. The book presents, moreover, the provocative thesis that the revolutionary quest for æsocial relevanceÆ that began in the 1960s has been supplanted by an ethic of æmarket relevanceÆ 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.

• | Author: Wahbie Long
• | Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• | Publication Date: Jul 04, 2016
• | Number of Pages: 234 pages
• | Language: English
• | Binding: Hardcover/Psychology
• | ISBN-10: 1137474882
• | ISBN-13: 9781137474889