In speaking together by gergen et. al

From: MnFamilyMan@aol.com
Date: Sat Jan 26 2002 - 12:55:10 PST


Considering recent diologue I offer the following from Gergen et al. The
entire post can be found at:
http://www.massey.ac.nz/~alock/culture/culture.htm

In Speaking Together

Although these commentaries were generated independently, and in highly
diverse cultural contexts, we find the extent of our univocality striking.
And, in spite of our shared misgivings regarding traditional practices, we
locate grounds here for what we believe could be a particularly fruitful
range of inter-cultural dialogues. We conclude by drawing attention to three
of the most promising domains of agreement: 1. In order to generate
significant intercultural dialogue it is essential that no single paradigm of
psychological inquiry gain preeminence. This is at once to honour the
existing traditions þ empiricist, phenomenological, critical school,
feminist, hermeneutic, social constructionist, and more. However, it is also
to invite a certain humility in each case. Should practitioners fail to
appreciate the limitations inherent in their particular paradigms, and treat
the alternatives as flawed inferiors, currently existing conflicts will not
give way to productive dialogue. There is far more to be gained by
appreciating and encouraging variability in perspectives and practices. 2.
The move toward indigenous psychology is much to be encouraged. This is not
simply an effort to document the existing array of intelligibilities. Rather,
cultural traditions must be explored, articulated and celebrated for the
various resources they can bring to discussions of psychology in the global
context. Of particular importance are indigenous concepts that lend
themselves to alternative forms of inquiry. Cultural variations in
conceptions of the person must be mined for their implications for
metatheory, theory, methods, and professional practices. This investment in
multiple traditions must be complemented by international forums in which a)
the resources of the various cultures may be shared, and b) psychologists are
encouraged to amalgamate, appropriate, and integrate the various offerings.
3. We see particular dangers inhering in the traditional attempt to establish
culture free knowledge of human functioning þ regardless of the particular
methods chosen for study. Not only do such attempts obscure or denigrate
myriad traditions, in favour of the culture which "calls the truth". But,
such inquiry does not appear to have significant promise in terms of the
enormous practical problems confronting the world - both in local and
international terms. Theories and methods with a strong grounding in or
applicability to practical contexts are much to be sought.



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