Conscientisation and the ontology of personhood in Latin American liberation psychology

Abstract

This article explores the ontology of human personhood embedded within liberation psychology scholarship as related to the concepts of conscientisation, alienation, and relatedness. Through analysis of the work of Paulo Freire, Ignacio Martín-Baró and Maritza Montero, this study sheds light upon Latin American liberation psychology, as a paradigmatic articulation of human ontology. The importance of a well-articulated ontology of human personhood is related to and supported by Martin and Sugarman’s (2003) developmental theory of situated agentic personhood. In exploring foundational texts in liberation psychology we find a strong link to Marxian conceptions of personhood and agency. This interdisciplinary heritage claimed by liberation psychology continues to support an understanding of personhood as agentic, wilful and not only capable of socio-political action but dialectically inclined to such action for personal and societal change. This ontology has been essential in the development of liberation psychology practices and suggests a necessary paradigm shift in mainstream psychology.