From an individualized to a societal social psychology: Ideology and ideological changes as reflected in language usage.

Abstract

In our article we will first briefly review developments within critical psychology in Norway in the years after we prepared a review for Annual Review of Critical Psychology (in 2006). The substantial part of the article, however, will be an analysis and critical discussion of social psychology based on the assumption that social psychology (and the other social sciences) has a moral obligation to contribute in resolving pressing problems of our time; problems representing real threats to mankind and life on our planet (such as pollution and climate change, terrorism, poverty and unjust distribution of goods in an era of globalization, etc). These pressing problems of our time are somehow related to or even anchored in the currently globalizing ideology of neoliberalism. Our conclusion on this analysis will be that this assumption demands a social psychology rather different from the currently predominant experimental and laboratory based social psychology which individualizes the social. In particular, social psychology has to take the concept of ideology – a concept which is currently ignored or even excluded in mainstream social psychology - into consideration if social psychology is going to contribute to resolve challenging problems of our time (as they all carry ideological implications). Annual review of critical psychology 10: Critical Psychology in a Changing World: Building Bridges and Expanding the Dialogue, Pages 741-755. http://www.discourseunit.com/annual-review/