Towards a Cultural Psychology: Meaning and Social Practice as Key Elements
HTML Full Text
PDF
XML

Keywords

cultural psychology
social practice
meaning
artifact
culture

How to Cite

Towards a Cultural Psychology: Meaning and Social Practice as Key Elements. (2019). Universitas Psychologica, 18(1), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.11144/Javeriana.upsy18-1.tcpm
Almetrics
 
Dimensions
 

Google Scholar
 
Search GoogleScholar

Abstract

Several prominent scholars in the Social Sciences have defended the need for a new way of studying the relationship between culture and the individual. Over the last three decades, it has been common to find studies under the heading of Cultural Psychology (CP), which have focussed on the role of culture in historical and ontogenetic development. However, among the defenders of CP, there have been specific disagreements over theoretical and methodological aspects of the project. This lack of agreement is revealed by the different conceptions of the role of meaning and social practice in human psychological functioning. This paper aims is to analyze some different approaches to CP, and the role of meaning plays in its constitution. For us, the central claim of CP is that the human mind should be seen as inter-penetrated by intentional worlds that are culturally and historically situated, and this psychology must to study the ways psyche and culture; person and context, self and other, practitioner and practice live together, and jointly make each other up. In addition, CP has also identified the symbolic mediation of mind and culture as its analytical focus. Finally, we defend that culture and mind are to be treated as forms of culturally differentiated meaning practices. To make possible this enterprise, we propose the necessity to develop the notion of mediated and situated actions as a unit of analysis of Cultural Psychology.

HTML Full Text
PDF
XML

Bakhtin, M. M. (1986). Speech genres and other late essays. C. Emerson & M. Holquist (Eds.). Austin: University of Texas Press.

Boesch, E. (1996). The seven flaws of Cross-cultural Psychology. The story of a conversion. Mind, Culture and Activity, 3(1), 2-10. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327884mca0301_2

Boesch, E. (1997). Reasons for a symbolic concept of actions. Culture and Psychology, 3(3), 223-231. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354067X9733012

Brescó, I. (2016). Between history and cultural psychology: some reflections on mediation and normativity when reconstructing the past. Culture and Psychology, 22(3), 414-423. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354067X16645294

Brescó, I., & Wagoner, B. (2016). Context in the cultural psychology of remembering. In C. Stone & L. Bietti (Eds.), Contextualizing human memory (pp. 69-85). London: Routledge.

Brinkmann, S. (2016). Cultural psychology and its values. Culture and Psychology, 22(3), 376-386. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354067X16645293

Bruner, J. (1990). Acts of meaning. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.

Bruner, J. (1996). Meaning and self in cultural perspective. In D. Bakhurst & Ch. Sypnowich (Eds.), The social self (pp. 18-29). London: Sage.

Bruner, J. S. (2005). Cultural psychology and its functions. Constructivism in the Human Sciences, 10, 53-63. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/openview/fa90120b9bc9224d8349337bc6049c0f/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=29080

Budwig, N., Uzgiris, I. C., & Wertsch, J. V. (Eds.). (2000). Communication: An arena of development. Stanford, Conneticut: Ablex Publishing Corporation.

Cohen, D. (2007). Methods in cultural psychology. In S. Kitayama & D. Cohen (Eds.), Handbook of cultural psychology (pp. 196-236). New York, NY: The Guilford Press.

Cole, M. (1996). Cultural Psychology: a once and future discipline. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Cole, M., & Engestrom, Y. (1993). A cultural-historical approach to distributed cognition. In G. Salomon (Ed.), Distributed Cognitions: Psychological and Educational Considerations (pp. 1-46). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Cole, M., & Hatano, G. (2007). Cultural-historical activity theory: Integrating phylogeny, cultural history, and ontogenesis in cultural psychology. In S. Kitayama & D. Cohen (Eds.), Handbook of cultural psychology (pp. 109-135). New York.: The Guilford Press.

Dawson, T. L., Fischer, K. W., & Zachary, S. (2006). Reconsidering qualitative research approaches: A cognitive developmental perspective. New Ideas in Psychology, 24(3), 229-239. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.newideapsych.2006.10.001

De la Mata, M., & Cubero, M. (2003). Psicología Cultural: aproximaciones al estudio de la relación entre mente y cultura. Infancia y Aprendizaje, 26(2), 181-199. https://doi.org/10.1174/021037003321827777

Eckensberger, L. (1996). Activity and action: two different roads towards an integration of culture in psychology? Culture and Psychology, 1(1), 67-80. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354067X9511005

Eckensberger, L. (2014). Integrating the Emic (Indigenous) with the Etic (Universal). A case of squaring the circle or for adopting a culture inclusive action theory perspective. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 45(1), 108-140. https://doi.org/10.1111/jtsb.12057

Edwards, D. (1995). A commentary on discursive and culture psychology. Culture and Psychology, 1(1), 55-66. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354067X9511004

Ellis, B. D., & Stam, H. J. (2015). Crisis? What crisis? Cross-Cultural psychology’´s appropriation of cultural psychology. Culture and Psychology, 21(3), 293-317. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1354067X15601198

Esteban, M. (2011). An interpretation on cultural psychology: Some theoretical principles and applications. Suma Psicológica, 18(2), 65-88. Retrieved from https://www.redalyc.org/pdf/1342/134222985006.pdf

Fisher, R., & Poortinga, Y. H. (2018). Addressing methodological challenges in culture-comparative research. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 49(5), 691-712. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022117738086

Frawley, W. (1997). Vygotsky and Cognitive Science: Language and the Unification of the Social and Computational Mind. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Geertz, C. (1973). The interpretation of cultures. New York, NY: Basic Books.

Geertz, C. (1996). Los usos de la diversidad. In N. Sánchez Durá (Ed.), Clifford Geertz. Los usos de la diversidad (pp. 65-92). Colección: Pensamiento Comtemporaneo, 44. Barcelona: Paidós e I. C. E. de Barcelona.

Greenfield, P. M. (2009). Linking social change and developmental change: shifting pathways of human development. Developmental Psychology, 45(2), 401-418. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0014726

Goodwin, C., & Goodwin, M.H. (1992). Assessments and the Construction of Context. In A. Duranti, & C. Goodwin (Eds.), Rethinking Context: Language as an Interactive Phenomenon (pp. 147-189). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Gülerce, A. (2014). Before and beyond dialogicality: Transformative trialectics of human dialogues. New Ideas in Psychology, 32, 88-98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.newideapsych.2013.05.004

Gülerce, A. (2015). The “&” has emerged. Seeking “culture” and “psychology” for Culture & Psychology. Culture and Psychology, 21(4), 455-468. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354067X15615800

Hwang, K. K. (2014). Culture-Inclusive Theories of Self and Social Interaction: The Approach of Multiple Philosophical Paradigms. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 45(1), 40-63. https://doi.org/10.1111/jtsb.12050

Innis, R. E. (2016). Between philosophy and cultural psychology: Pragmatist and semiotic reflections on the thresholds of sense. Culture and Psychology, 22(3), 331-361. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354067X16638847

Jahoda, G. (1992). Crossroads between culture and mind. Continuities and Change in Theories of Human Nature. New York: NY. Harvester Wheatsheaf. Retrieved from
https://lib.ugent.be/catalog/rug01:000271238

Jahoda, G. (2012). Critical reflections on some recent definitions of “culture”. Culture & Psychology, 18(3), 289-303. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354067X12446229

Kozulin, A. (1986). The concept of activity in Soviet Psychology. Vygotsky, his disciples and critics. American Psychologist, 41(3), 264-274. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.41.3.264

Krewer, B. (1990). Psyche and culture: Can a culture-free psychology take into account the essential features of the species, homo sapiens? The Quarterly Newsletter of the Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition, 12(1), 24-36.

Lave, J. (1993). The practice of learning. In S. Chaiklin & J. Lave, (Eds.): Understanding practice. Perspectives on activity and context (pp. 229-237). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991) Situated learning. NY: Cambridge University Press.

Leont’ev, A. N. (1979). The problem of activity in psychology. In J. V. Wertsch (Ed. and Trans.), The concept of activity in Soviet psychology (pp. 37-71). Armonk, NY: Sharpe.

LeVine, R. A. (2007). Anthropological foundations of cultural psychology. In S. Kitayama & D. Cohen (Eds.), Handbook of cultural psychology (pp. 40-58). New York, NY: The Guilford Press.

Marsico, G. (2015). Striving for the new: Cultural psychology as a developmental science. Culture and Psychology, 21(4), 445-454. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354067X15623020

Nedergaard, J. (2016). Theory of Semiotic Skin: Making sense of the flux on the border. Culture and Psychology, 22(3), 387-403. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354067X16650121

Norros, L. (2018). Understanding acting in complex environments: Building a synergy of cultural-historical activity theory, Peirce, and ecofunctionalism. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 25(1), 68-85. https://doi.org/10.1080/10749039.2017.1350714

Poortinga, Y. H. (1997). Towards convergence? In J. W. Berry, Y. H. Poortinga & J. Pandey (Eds.), Theory and method (pp. 347-87). Vol. I of Handbook of cross-cultural psychology (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Ratner, C. (1996). Activity as a key concept for Cultural Psychology. Culture and Psychology, 2(4), 407-434. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354067X9600200404

Ratner, C. (2006). Cultural Psychology: A Perspective on Psychological Functioning and Social Reform. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Ratner, C. (2017). The discrepancy between macro culture and individual, lived psychology: An ethnographic example of Chinese moral behavior. Culture and Psychology, 23(3), 356-371. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354067X16658021

Rogoff, B. (1990). Apprenticeship in thinking. Cognitive development in social context. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Santamaría, A., De la Mata, M. L., & Cubero, M. (2010). Thinking as action: Theoretical and methodological requirements for cultural psychology. Theory & Psychology, 20(1), 76-101. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959354309350244

Schegloff. E. (1991). Conversation Analysis and Socially Shared Cognition. In J Resnick L. an Levine, S Teasley (Eds.), Perspectives on Socially Shared Cognition (pp. 150-171). American Psychological Association.

Shweder, R. A. (1990). Cultural Psychology- what is it? In J. W. Stigler, R. A. Shweder & G. Herdt (Eds.), Cultural Psychology. Essays on comparative human development (pp. 27-66). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Shweder, R. A., & Sullivan, M. A. (1993). Cultural psychology: Who needs it? Annual Review of Psychology, 44, 497-527.

Simão, L. M. (2016). Culture as a moving symbolic border. Integrative Psychological & Behavioral Science, 50(1), 14-28. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12124-015-9322-6

Tharp, R. G., & O’Donell, C. R. (2016). Cultural-historical activity theory and cultural community psychology: The potential for greater commonality. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 23(1), 5-14. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10749039.2015.1107742

Tomasello, M. (Ed.). (1998). The new psychology of language: Cognitive and functional approaches to language structure. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Toomela, A. (2000). Activity Theory is a dead end for cultural-historical psychology. Culture and Psychology, 6(3), 353-364. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1354067X0063005

Tulviste, P. (1991). The cultural-historical development of verbal thinking. Commack, NY: Nova Science Publishers.

Valsiner, J. (2009). Cultural psychology today: Innovations and oversights. Culture & Psychology, 15(1), 5-39. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354067X08101427

Valsiner, J. (2014a). An invitation to cultural psychology. London: Sage.

Valsiner, J. (2014b). Needed for cultural psychology: Methodology in a new key. Culture & Psychology, 20(1), 3-30. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354067X13515941

Valsiner, J. (2014c). What cultural psychologies need: Generalizing theories! Culture & Psychology, 20(2), 147-159. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354067X14527841

Vygotsky, L. S. (1981). The genesis of higher mental functions. In J. V. Wertsch (Ed.), The concept of activity in Soviet psychology (pp. 144-188). Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe Inc.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1986). Thought and Language. Cambridge: The Mit Press.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1987). The collected works of L. S. Vygotsky: Problems of general psychology (Vol. 1). New York, NY: Plenum Press.

Wertsch, J. V. (Ed.) (1981). The concept of activity in Soviet psychology. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe Inc.

Wertsch, J. V. (1998). Mind as action. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Yanchar, S. C., & Westerman, M. A. (2006). Reconsidering qualitative research approaches: New interpretations and future possibilities. New Ideas in Psychology, 24(3), 187-188. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.newideapsych.2006.09.003

Zinchenko, V. P. (1997). La psicología sociocultural y la teoría psicológica de la actividad: revisión y proyección al futuro. In J. V. Wertsch, P. del Río & A. Álvarez (Eds.), La mente socio-cultural. Aproximaciones teóricas y aplicadas (pp. 35-48). Madrid: Fundación Infancia y Aprendizaje.

Zittoun, T. (2014). Three dimensions of dialogical movement. New Ideas in Psychology, 32, 99-106. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.newideapsych.2013.05.006

Zittoun, T. (2018). A lesson in dialogical thinking [Review of the book The dialogical mind: Common sense and ethics, by Ivana Marková]. Culture & Psychology, 24(1), 107-121. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354067X17701272

This journal is registered under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License. Thus, this work may be reproduced, distributed, and publicly shared in digital format, as long as the names of the authors and Pontificia Universidad Javeriana are acknowledged. Others are allowed to quote, adapt, transform, auto-archive, republish, and create based on this material, for any purpose (even commercial ones), provided the authorship is duly acknowledged, a link to the original work is provided, and it is specified if changes have been made. Pontificia Universidad Javeriana does not hold the rights of published works and the authors are solely responsible for the contents of their works; they keep the moral, intellectual, privacy, and publicity rights. Approving the intervention of the work (review, copy-editing, translation, layout) and the following outreach, are granted through an use license and not through an assignment of rights. This means the journal and Pontificia Universidad Javeriana cannot be held responsible for any ethical malpractice by the authors. As a consequence of the protection granted by the use license, the journal is not required to publish recantations or modify information already published, unless the errata stems from the editorial management process. Publishing contents in this journal does not generate royalties for contributors.