Thanks David
that's the book :-)
bw
PB
At 15:56 06/12/2005, you wrote:
Dear
Petra,
You might be thinking of
the book I mentioned when I posted the following as part of a
message:
One of the most exciting stimulating books I have read in recent years is
Decolonising Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples by Linda
Tuhiwai Smith (<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />University of
Otago Press) LTSD is Director of the International Research Institute for
Maori and Indigenous Education at the University of
Auckland.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
I was and am also very
positive about Ian Parker's 'Qualitative Psychology: Introducing Radical
Research' which I think is tremendously stimulating
I also really like Carla
Willig's Introducing Qualitative Research in psychology: Adventures in
Theory and Method. Whilst not as 'critical' as the above in some ways it
really does make the reader think about the very different
epistemological and ontological assumptions underlying different
qualitative methods and that makes it hard to avoid problemetising
ideological positionings too
In a sense much of the
discussion on the list lately has been relevant in that . . . in my view,
it is not so much that there are 'critical methods' one can choose to use
if one wants to do 'critical research', as methods one can deploy
critically if one is thinking critically . . . so the key thing in my
view is to develop critical thinking rather than acquire specific
research techniques . . . though in my view there is
something intrinsically problematic about the assumptions and actuality
of much of what counts as 'research' as a project (rather than as a set
of techniques)
David
David Fryer
Community Psychology Group
University of Stirling
FK9 4LA
Scotland
+44 (0) 1786 467650 (tel)
+44 (0) 1786 467641 (fax)
[log in to unmask]
- -----Original Message-----
- From: The UK Community Psychology Discussion List
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Petra Boynton
- Sent: 06 December 2005 3:03 pm
- To: [log in to unmask]
- Subject: Re: [COMMUNITYPSYCHUK] Escaping the Critique
- Hi everyone
- In one of the messages during this discussion of being critical
someone mentioned a reference for a book which I think was about research
methods and aboriginal people - a critical approach to international
research (or something like that). I'd really like to look up the
book but have lost the reference, could someone please remind me of
the full title?
- Also if anyone has any other useful references for critical
books/papers around research methods specifically I'd be really
interested in hearing about them. I'm lecturing on an international
masters in primary care and we're trying very hard to have a critical
approach to methods for our diverse group of students who're working all
over the world.
- bw
- Petra
- At 13:43 06/12/2005, you wrote:
- Thanks Grant for that interesting posting.
- In relation to the 'postmodern' I suppose I'd have to say 2
things.
- 1) I have used it in what was a brief piece as a kind of
shorthand (that
- risked losing all nuances) for the tendencies towards extreme
relativism
- and idealism (in the sense of denying that there is a social reality
-
- however hard to apprehend), and of a denial of the possibility of
what is
- usually called 'grand narratives' - i.e. general theory of the
world. So
- I apologise to anyone who self defines as postmodernist that also
rejects
- those extremes, most notoriously expressed in a text (I forget by
whom)
- called something like "The Gulf War Didn't Happen".
- 2) I also want to question that there is something that can be
sensibly
- called a 'postmodern condition' - i.e. as a theory of the state of
the
- world or of modern culture, it just seems inadequate to me, posing a
break
- with the modern, whereas what I see in imperialist globalisation, in
the
- extension of capital into all areas of life, including culture
(and
- Habermas is good on this - colonisatin of the lifeworld) is an
extension
- of the worst aspects of modernism - modernism without
enlightnment. This
- idea seems to have a lot in common with the 'end of history'
ideologists
- of triumphant capitalism at the start of the 90s.
- For some time I bought the Habermasian line that tries to recapture
an
- emancipatory tradition in modernism, contrasting it with the
repressive,
- rationalising, mechanical modernism of the capitalist machine.
However,
- reading Enrique Dussel on philosophy of liberation, I came to the
view
- that this notion is very Eurocentric, and the modernist project is
beeply
- bound up in the economics of capitalist expansion, the politics
of
- colonisation and empire, and the social psychology of
exclusion. Instead
- Dussel proposes a paradigm of transmodernity, that (and I don't have
the
- texts to hand to check exactly) tries to synthesise a liberatory
praxis
- and world view from the modernist ouvre together with other world
views -
- especially those excluded within and excluded outside the totality of
the
- system.
- Again these are difficult ideas to grasp, (and I'm in great danger
of
- oversimplifying and caricaturing them), but this seems to me to
suggest a
- way out of the impasse of a stalled and flawed enlightenment
project.
- Dussel uses the term 'analectics' to capture this synthetic praxis -
the
- idea being to go beyond the dialectic model of
thesis-antithesis-synthesis
- (which Grant alludes to in the Lyotard quote) to and instead to
integrate
- a diversity of perspectives (from the stanpoint of the many and
diverse
- victims of the system and their cultures and ideologies and from
their
- allies within the system- which might include 'critical'
community
- psychologists) - but within an integrative whole - not a
fragmentary
- 'postmodern' melange!
- I do have to come back to a strong sense of what's at stake
hear. We are
- living in a world dominated by a monster that is destroying not
just
- people, families, communities, wealth and welfare, publically owned
goods,
- cultures and ways of being, but also the planet itself.
That monster is
- the untamed capitalism resurgent since the early 70s, now in a full
blown
- expansionist phase. I still see much of the postmodernist
tradition as a
- fashionable diversion that engages with this at the wrong level
altogether
- - that of the particular, often at the level of the word, rather than
at
- the level of social relations.
- Mark Buron
- > I have been a lurker on the list for a few months, but have
enjoyed some
- > of the fascinating recent contributions, and I have at last been
moved
- > to contribute a thought, despite my possible lack of
qualifications :-)
- >
- > I found myself thinking a great deal about Mark Burton's
interesting
- > posting on 'being critical' and enjoyed David and Paul's
recent
- > comments, amongst others.
- >
- > Mark's posting reflected a (useful) tension that was apparent at
the
- > Newcastle conference. Both the idealism of modernity and the
iconoclasm
- > of post-modern thinking were represented at various stages of
the
- > conference and are apparent in the literature. If I
remember correctly,
- > David Smail referred to Habermas and the Frankfurt School in
his
- > presentation at conference, as he does in his book 'Power
Interest and
- > Psychology'. He is also critical of elements of post-modern
approaches
- > to therapy, especially Narrative Therapy which (if I have
understood) he
- > calls 'psychotic', the apotheosis of
'magic-voluntarism'(p.7)*.
- >
- > On the other hand, much hay has been made by explicitly applying
the
- > thinking of post-modern types such as Derrida and Foucault by,
for
- > example, Ian Parker (eg 'Deconstructing Psychotherapy'). This
work is
- > also of value for community psychology, and it has much to say
about
- > 'being critical', not in a destructive way, but in a restless
attempt to
- > identify, unsettle and unbalance entrenched power
structures.
- >
- > It is therefore this paragraph in Mark's posting that I want to
comment
- > on:-
- >
- > "Another use of 'critical', however, seems to come from the
lay notion
- > of the 'critic'. At its worst (and most post-modern) that
can mean 'say
- > what you like', and 'pose around as the most critical voice of
all'.
- > There is no method, just individual opinion. The process
is destructive
- > not constructive. It is part of the 'society of the
spectacle', of
- > consumerism, of capitalism itself."
- >
- > It reminded me of the sensationalist rhetoric of Alex Callinicos
in
- > "Against Postmodernism". I am not sure it is helpful
to try and ensnare
- > the multiplicity of post-modern thinking, or post-modern
methods, in a
- > bi-polar construct 'capitalism versus Marxism', right versus
left wing:-
- > post-modern thinking is diverse. There is also a danger
that we
- > underplay the influence of post-modern thinkers on the
development of
- > 'reflexive modernity' which still binds strongly to Marxist
roots.
- >
- > In fact, my attitude to what it means to be 'critical' was
heavily
- > influenced by Lyotard, "a critique can only ever be
reformist and is
- > eternally trapped in the sphere of the criticised (1974,
Libidinal
- > Economy)". To be revolutionary we need to be able to
turn our backs on
- > entrenched polarities and look away.**
- >
- > I think we have much to learn from post-modern thinking and
indeed, much
- > of the language in this mailing list echoes that of some of the
most
- > interesting post-modern writers such as Foucault "The
individual is the
- > product of power. What is needed is to
"de-individualize" by means of
- > multiplication and displacement, diverse combinations. The
group must
- > not be the organic bond uniting hierarchised individuals, but a
constant
- > generator of de-individualization" (From "Introduction
to the
- > Non-Fascist Life").
- >
- > I don't think community psychology needs to take shelter under
any of
- > the great movements (Marxism, The Frankfurt School,
Post-modernism) or
- > any of the great egos that dominate much of modern thought, be
it
- > Foucault, Derrida, Lyotard....Habermas or Marx! But we
must be careful
- > not to parody useful post-modern methods and thought as
nihilistic, or
- > capitalist. There are lots of useful ways of being
critical.
- >
- > I've enjoyed the provocative postings on the list; a little
corner of
- > the non-fascist life!
- >
- >
- > Grant Jeffrey (possibly protesting too much ;-)
- >
- >
- >
- > *(Interestingly, in their book 'Anti-Oedipus',1983, the
post-modern
- > writers Deleuze and Guattari make a virtue of the very psychosis
that
- > David Smail identifies with their alternative to psychoanalysis
-
- > 'schizo-analysis'!)
- >
- > **(Nietzsche (1887, Aphorism 276) "I do not want to wage
war against
- > what is ugly. I do not want to accuse; I do not even want
to accuse
- > those who accuse. Looking away shall be my only
negation. All in all
- > and on the whole, some day I wish to be only a
Yes-Sayer.")
- >
- >
- >
- >
- >
- >
- >
- >
- >
- >
- >
- >
- >
- >
- > This message is intended for the addressee(s) only and should
not be read,
- > copied or disclosed to anyone else outwith the University
without the
- > permission of the sender.
- > It is your responsibility to ensure that this message and any
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- > medium. Email entering the
- > University's system is subject to routine monitoring and
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- > University.
- >
- > ___________________________________
- >
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- From Mark Burton
- Manchester UK
- ___________________________________
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- Petra M Boynton, PhD
- Lecturer in Health Services Research
- Department Primary Care and Population Sciences, UCL.
- Open Learning Unit, Archway Campus
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