Discourse and representation: A comment on Batel and Castro 'Re-opening the dialogue between the theory of social representations and discursive psychology'.

Abstract

Batel and Castro propose to integrate conceptually and empirically the theory of social representations (TSR) and discursive psychology (DP). This comment emphasizes the importance of debates between different traditions of social psychology, focusing on the status of psychological entities and methodological pluralism as two areas in which fruitful tensions between DP and TSR are still evident. It critiques DP's disavowal of psychological entities and reaffirms the insights of sociocultural traditions that see intrapsychological phenomena as internalized sociality. It argues that rather than considering individual methods, the focus should be on the fit between research questions, context, and methodology. A simultaneous focus on theory, research questions, and analytical tools is best for dealing with the limitations as well as potentials of the methodological toolkit available for the study of meaning in context.