An Invitation to Social Construction
- Kenneth J Gergen - Swarthmore College, USA
This new edition of Kenneth J. Gergen’s celebrated text An Invitation to Social Construction is now even more accessible for students, offering a clear and thorough introduction to one of the most significant movements in contemporary social science.
The Third Edition includes:
- updates reflecting the many new developments in theory, research, and practice
- a more student-friendly, personal writing style
- three new chapters on education, and therapy and health care, and organizations
- key insights into how social construction can help support you in your research projects, from start to finish.
This third edition, enriched with three new chapters, remains an exciting introduction to the premises of social constructionism. As Gergen unfolds, in his own personal style, the ideas of dialogue, co-action and relationship one finds oneself relating to the book in the most engaging way. The book is inspiring for both the newcomer and the experienced pursuer of knowledge-making in constructionist terms.
Ken Gergen has taken all that is good in his second edition of the definitive Invitation to Social Construction, updated it, and made it even smarter. There is no more vibrant and engaging launch point for understanding contemporary social constructionism.
The author succeeds in introducing the reader into social construction. He emphasizes that this perspective critically attempts to look at what acts as "the truth" without leading to nihilism. The combination of the scientific with the social and personal through the work makes it very accessible and easily readable. In short, the book is a comprehensive introduction to social construction, not just for novice and advanced researchers, but also for students.
This is being used now as a core book on the reading list but is not the main text. It is a good generalist text which will be suitable for a wide range of courses with a social constructionist/ post modern orientation.
This is a dynamic and engaging text that will not only encourage your students to consider which aspects of society contribute to social construction, but also motivate them to delve deeper into social theory. The writing style presents a balanced tone of questioning, theorising and evaluating.
for anyone doing social research it is an essential book. It covers a variety of topics that are analysed through social constructionism prism.
An essential text for social sciences; cannot recommend highly enough!
feedback was already given
to help students grasp ideas of soical constructionism which is core to the undertanding of gender and sexuality
Great updated version of a classic text. It clearly discusses key arguments within social constructionism. I would recommend for both undergraduate and postgraduate students
