Community psychology in the postmodern world

Abstract

The postmodern era is a period of transition from the 300-year-long modern period. Community psychology as a field is faced with the challenge of what to do in the period of transition. This article sets the historical context of the challenge in the modern period with the traditional laboratory science model as the solution to a concern about social uncertainty and chaos. An alternative, human science, developed in the late 19th century, is the tradition that community psychology should draw on. Human science provides the philosophical basis for a humanistic science with a value base oriented toward a more just and equitable world. An eight-step reflection on the recent name change of the Division of Community Psychology to the Society for Community Research and Action yielded the conclusion that the field should consider two moves: (a) the development of a theory of community and (b) the development of a theory of praxis. This article and that by Dokecki (this issue) offer complementary approaches to both matters. These two additions should help position the field to become an actor in shaping the postmodern world of the 1990s.