Lev Vygotsky was one of the most talented and brilliant of Soviet psychologists. Despite his tragically early death at the age of 38 his accomplishments are enormously impressive: he played a key role in restructuring the Psychological Institute of Moscow; set up two research laboratories in the major cities of the USSR; founded what we call special education; and authored some 180 works. His innovative theories of thought and speech are important not just for psychology but for other disciplines also. Yet even though his ideas have increasingly won popularity there remains a strong need for...

For centuries, knowledge has been thought to be the key to human progress of all kinds and has dominated Western culture. But what if knowing has now become an impediment to further human development? This text is concerned with the practical consideration of how to reconstruct our world when modernist ideas have been refuted and many social problems appear insoluble. The authors suggest that we should give up knowing in favour of performed activity. They show how to reject the knowing paradigm in practice and present the many positive implications this has for social and educational policy....

More than an academic critique, Performing Psychology offers a new methodology for understanding human life. Arguing that both psychological activity and its study are essentially performance, Neuman and his colleagues expose the myths of mainstream psychology and the limitations of its postmodern challengers.

This volume addresses tensions that exist between two opposing approaches to psychology, the experimental/empirical and the cultural/humanistic approach. The author analyzes a series of writings by and about Fred Newman, the controversial American philosopher, psychotherapist, playwright and political activist. The resulting discussion addresses such questions as: what defines psychological method?; what is the subject matter of psychology?; and what does postmodern criticism of psychology look like?

This volume brings together a group of respected contributors to the postmodern debate in psychology. Their chapters reflect on achievements and limitations of attempts to develop postmodern approaches to psychology. The essays are interactive, reflective and the authors are often in active debate. This volume introduces the general reader to such topics as Marxist and feminist psychology, social constructivism and deconstructivism.

This volume brings together a group of respected contributors to the postmodern debate in psychology. Their chapters reflect on achievements and limitations of attempts to develop postmodern approaches to psychology. The essays are interactive, reflective and the authors are often in active debate. This volume introduces the general reader to such topics as Marxist and feminist psychology, social constructivism and deconstructivism.

This text lets readers follow this exciting development in psychology as it is unfolding.

Addresses the relationship between development, learning, and schooling, and links developmental learning and democratic education, employing a Vygostkian perspective.