Constructing a Representation or Representing a Construction?

Abstract

While acknowledging that Serge Moscovici's theory of social representations has impinged positively upon contemporary social psychology, a critical analysis is developed using the basic assumptions of this theory to make salient its shortcomings. The ontological status of `social representations' is discussed and the conclusion is that there is nothing in our societies which can be described as being a social representation. From a social constructionist viewpoint, inspired by Kenneth Gergen, it is argued that we neither construct representations nor do we represent constructions. People do not live in a world of representations but in a world of discursive productions. After examining the implications of the `constructive loop' conveyed by the theory of social representations, a critical look is directed towards the `ideology of representation' as one of the most pervading ideologies of our time. Finally, it is alleged that the split between `person as a thinker' and `person as a doer' is deeply embedded in contemporary social psychology.