This book examines the theoretical developments in the field of Action Research from a historical perspective. The central focus of the investigation is the concepts of democracy and subjectivity as defined by the field’s various traditions. To address this issue, this book offers a thorough investigation of the theoretical and historical underpinnings of Action Research in order to argue that such a clarification allows for a transcendence of the distinction between theory and practice in political action. This transcendence will be achieved with the theories of the German critical psychologist Klaus Holzkamp and his interpretation of subjectivity and democracy. Holzkamp establishes a comprehensive mode of change based on the contradiction of existing possibilities for action and restrictions in a concretely given empirical situation.
This book is aimed at History of Psychology Classes, Social Workers, Activism Researchers, Undergraduate Courses in Critical Thinking and Political Action, and Decolonial Theory in Psychology.
Author(s): Martin Dege
Series: Theory and History in the Human and Social Sciences
Publisher: Springer
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 212
City: Cham
Contents
About the Author
Chapter 1: Introduction: What Is Action Research?
Plan of the Book
References
Part I: The Emergence of Action Research
Chapter 2: The Founding Fathers: Moreno, Collier, Lewin
Jacob Levy Moreno
Moreno and Action Research
John Collier
Kurt Lewin
Moreno, Collier, Lewin
References
Chapter 3: Pragmatic and Participatory Action Research – The Northern and Southern Traditions
The Tavistock Institute of Human Relations
The Development in Norway
Participatory Action Research
References
Part II: Subjectivity, Desmocracy, and Action Research
Chapter 4: The Lewinian Tradition
Lewin and Subjectivity I: Lewin’s Concept of Science
Lewin and Subjectivity II: The Early Foundations of Lewin’s Work in Industry
Lewin and Democracy I: The Concept of Participation in Lewin’s Research Projects
Lewin and Democracy II: Lewin, Culture, and Change on a Large-Scale Level
Action Research or Social Engineering?: A Critique of Lewin’s Concepts of Subjectivity and Democracy
References
Chapter 5: The Northern Tradition of Pragmatic Action Research
The Tavistock Institute: A Phenomenological Approach
Socio-Technical Systems: The Theoretical Basis
Socio-Technical Systems: The Application of Democracy in the ID Project
Local Constructivism: The Search Conference
The Search Conference Put into Practice
Enterprise Development 2000: Major Methodological Shifts
Enterprise Development 2000: The Projects
References
Chapter 6: The Southern Tradition
Conflict Intervention Instead of Consensus Intervention: The Focus on Empowerment in Participatory Action Research
The 1979 Appalachian Land Ownership Study
References
Part III: Klaus Holzkamp and the Concept of Subjectivity
Chapter 7: What Is German Critical Psychology
A Short Introduction
The Development of German-Scandinavian Critical Psychology
References
Chapter 8: Subjectivity and Democracy in the Tradition of German Critical Psychology
The Subject and Action As Central Categories: The Historical-Empirical Level of KP
The Actual-Empirical Level: Research from the Standpoint of the Subject
References
Part IV: Action Research and Practice Research
Chapter 9: New Grounds for Action Research?
The Lewinian Loss of Subjectivity, Its Perpetuation in the Northern Tradition, and Its Critique in the Southern Tradition
Moreno, Holzkamp, Subjectivity, and Democracy
References
Index
