Toward Psychologies of Liberation (Critical Theory and Practice in Psychology and the Human Sciences)

Psychologies of liberation are emerging on every continent in response to the collective traumas inflicted by colonialism and globalization. The authors present the theoretical foundation and participatory methodologies that unite these radical interdisciplinary approaches to creating individual and community well-being. They move from a description of the psychological and community wounds that are common to unjust and violent contexts to engaging examples of innovative community projects from around the world that seek to heal these wounds. The creation of public homeplaces, and the work of liberation arts, critical participatory action research, public dialogue, and reconciliation are highlighted as embodying the values and hopes of liberation psychology. Drawing on psychoanalysis, trauma studies, liberation arts, participatory research, and contemporary cultural work, this book nourishes our understanding of and imagination about the kinds of healing that are necessary to the creation of more just and peaceful communities. In dialogue with cultural workers, writers, and visionaries from Latin America, Africa, Asia, Europe, the United States, and the Pacific Islands, Toward Psychologies of Liberation quickens a dialogical convergence of liberatory psychological theories and practices that will seed individual and community transformation. Cover 1 Contents 6 Preface 12 Introduction 14 Part I: Compass Points 22 1 Beyond Universals: Local Regeneration 25 Inadequacy of current psychological models 25 Redrawing disciplinary boundaries 26 Practices of assisted regeneration 27 Symbolic interruptions 32 2 Beyond Ideology: Dialogue 35 Martín-Baró's critique of Eurocentric psychologies 36 Martín-Baró's radical proposals 37 The call to liberation psychologies 39 Marginalization and liberation 40 Colonialism as institution and structural metaphor 42 3 Beyond Development: Liberation 44 Development as a preconception 44 Underdevelopment 45 Liberation theology's critique of development 46 Engaged Buddhist critiques of development 49 Participatory communication and post-development 52 Counter-development 55 Psychological counter-development 57 From development to liberation 58 Contested history of the term "liberation" 58 Liberation as jailbreak 59 Liberation and the new commons 60 Part II: Psychic Wounds of Colonialism and Globalization 61 4 Symptoms and Psychologies in Cultural Context 65 Symptoms as memorials in depth psychologies 65 Early psychoanalysis and social justice 67 The whitening of psychoanalysis and the loss of "night vision" 68 Ignoring and misreading of symptoms 71 5 From Bystanding toward Engaged Witness 76 Bystanding 76 Psychic wounds of bystanding 78 Dissociation 86 Mending dissociation 87 Symptom as a tunnel that connects the outside to the inside 91 6 Pathologies of Perpetration 93 Breaking with silences about the past 95 Doubling, derealization, and disavowal 96 Effects of psychic splitting on families 98 The work of cultural anamnesis 100 Killing one's own humanity 101 Isolation and burnout in perpetrators 103 The normalization of violence 105 Diminished subjectivity in the absence of collective memory 106 Awakening from violence 108 Exposing our own histories 111 The refusal of violence 113 7 Mourning and Witness after Collective Trauma 117 Collective trauma 118 Effects of collective trauma 120 Witness as a powerful defense against collective trauma 128 The work of mourning 131 Constructing spaces of recollection 138 Part III: Springs for Creative Restoration 143 8 Rupture and Hospitality 145 Habitual thinking 145 Unexpected rupture 146 Liminal spaces 147 Loss of liminal spaces 149 Renormalization 150 Narrative framing 152 Centrifugal and centripetal energies 161 An ethics of hospitality 162 Communities of revelation 163 Relatedness and interdependence 164 Undermining exiled consciousness 166 Cultivation of liminal spaces 167 9 Non-Subjects and Nomadic Consciousness 170 An ethics of subjectivity 170 From fixed and stable to fluid and reflexive identities 174 From the singular center to the multiple peripheries 177 Wounded cosmopolitanism 178 Without predetermined destinations 179 Interrogating whiteness 181 Beyond national identities 182 Imagining ourselves differently 183 Playing with subjectivity: Chosen and practiced exile 185 Non-subjects and turning toward history 186 10 Dialogue 188 The development of dialogical capacities 188 Differentiating and coordinating the perspectives of self and other 190 Sustaining one's voice among others 196 Witness and dialogue 199 Council and circle: Practicing self-expression and deep listening 202 From cultures of silence to liberatory dialogue: The work of Paulo Freire 204 Utopic imagining 208 Appreciative inquiry 211 Bohmian dialogue 212 The art of questions: Dialogue amid divisive conflict 214 Coda 217 Part IV: Participatory Practices of Liberation Psychologies 218 11 Communities of Resistance: Public Homeplaces and Supportive Sites of Reconciliation 220 Communities of resistance 220 Community homeplaces 221 Re-building public homeplaces 224 The "Loving Third" 227 Communal dreaming 230 Earth democracy: Place and resistance 231 Grassroots postmodern regeneration 233 Los caracoles/Snail shells 234 Interstitial spaces for reconciliation 236 12 Liberation Arts: Amnesia, Counter-Memory, Counter-Memorial 243 Erasure, amnesia, and contested memory 245 Silence, suffering, and violence 247 Counter-memory and counter-memorial 249 Living memory and kinesthetic imagination 253 A survey of liberation arts methodologies 254 Qualities of liberation arts 273 Conclusion 275 13 Critical Participatory Action Research 277 Re-orienting psychological research: Principles of critical participatory action research 277 From center to margin 283 From colonizing research to indigenous research 286 From claims of universality to appreciation of social location 289 From pure knowledge to the synthesis of critical reflection and action 292 From expert to vulnerable co-participant and advocate 295 From manifest to latent: Listening for gaps, silences, and polyvocality 298 From speaking "for" to speaking "with" to testimonial practices 304 Toward contextual, interpretive, catalytic, and psychopolitical validity 306 14 Placing Dialogical Ethics at the Center of Psychological Research 310 Early stages of formulating research 313 Invitation to work with community participants 314 Gathering of co-participants 315 Transparency and informed consent 316 Confidentiality 317 Selection of interviewers 317 Collection of data 318 Analysis of data 319 Discussion and communication of findings 321 Implementation of findings 321 Conflicts of interest 322 Social responsibility 322 15 Dreams of Reconciliation and Restoration 324 Prerequisites for reconciliation 326 Government projects of reconciliation 328 Retributive versus restorative justice 332 Restoration through civil society 334 Remorse, apology, and forgiveness 342 Afterword—Tikkun Olam: The Restoration and Repair of the World 345 Acknowledgments 349 References 352 Author Index 369 A 369 B 369 C 369 D 370 E 370 F 370 G 370 H 371 J 371 K 371 L 371 M 372 N 372 O 372 P 372 Q 373 R 373 S 373 T 373 V 374 W 374 Y 374 Z 374 Subject Index 375 A 375 B 376 C 376 D 378 E 379 F 380 G 380 H 381 I 381 J 382 K 382 L 382 M 383 N 384 O 384 P 384 Q 386 R 386 S 387 T 389 U 389 V 390 W 390 X 391 Y 391 Z 391 Psychologies of liberation are emerging on every continent in response to the collective traumas inflicted by colonialism and globalization. The authors present the theoretical foundation and participatory methodologies that unite these radical interdisciplinary approaches to creating individual and community well-being. They move from a description of the psychological and community wounds that are common to unjust and violent contexts to engaging examples of innovative community projects from around the world that seek to heal these wounds. The creation of public homeplaces, the work of liberation arts, critical participatory action research, public dialogue, and reconciliation are highlighted as embodying the values and hopes of liberation psychology. Drawing on psychoanalysis, trauma studies, liberation arts, participatory research, and contemporary cultural work, this book nourishes our understanding of and imagination about the kinds of healing that are necessary to the creation of more just and peaceful communities. In dialogue with cultural workers, writers, and visionaries from Latin America, Africa, Asia, Europe, the United States, and the Pacific Islands, Toward Psychologies of Liberation quickens a dialogical convergence of liberatory psychological theories and practices that will seed individual and community transformation.--Résumé de l'éditeur A Presentation Of The Theoretical Foundation And Participatory Methodoloies Of Psychologies Of Liberation That Are Emerging On Every Continent. The Book Proposes A Radical Interdisciplinary Reorientation Of Psychology To Aid In The Creation Of Participatory And Dialogical Spaces For Critical Understanding And Creative Restoration. Part 1. Compass Points: Beyond Universalism: Local Regeneration ; Beyond Ideology: Dialogue ; Beyond Development: Liberation -- Part 2. Psychic Wounds Of Colonialism And Globalization: Symptoms And Psychologies In The Context Of Culture ; From Bystanding To Engaged Witness Bystanding ; Pathologies Of Perpetration ; Mourning And Witness After Collective Trauma -- Part 3. Springs For Creative Restoration: Rupture And Hospitality ; Non-subjects And Nomadic Consciousness ; Dialogue -- Part 4. Participatory Practices For Regeneration: Communities Of Resistance ; Libertory Arts And Imagination ; Critical Participatory Action Research ; Placing Dialogue Ethics At The Centre Of Research ; Dreams Of Reconciliation And Restoration --afterword: Tikkun Olam: The Restoration And Repair Of The World. Mary Watkins And Helene Shulman. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 341-357) And Indexes. Front Matter....Pages i-xii Introduction....Pages 1-8 Front Matter....Pages 9-11 Beyond Universals: Local Regeneration....Pages 13-22 Beyond Ideology: Dialogue....Pages 23-31 Beyond Development: Liberation....Pages 32-48 Front Matter....Pages 49-52 Symptoms and Psychologies in Cultural Context....Pages 53-63 From Bystanding toward Engaged Witness....Pages 64-80 Pathologies of Perpetration....Pages 81-104 Mourning and Witness after Collective Trauma....Pages 105-130 Front Matter....Pages 131-132 Rupture and Hospitality....Pages 133-157 Non-Subjects and Nomadic Consciousness....Pages 158-175 Dialogue....Pages 176-205 Front Matter....Pages 207-208 Communities of Resistance: Public Homeplaces and Supportive Sites of Reconciliation....Pages 209-231 Liberation Arts: Amnesia, Counter-Memory, Counter-Memorial....Pages 232-265 Critical Participatory Action Research....Pages 266-298 Placing Dialogical Ethics at the Center of Psychological Research....Pages 299-312 Dreams of Reconciliation and Restoration....Pages 313-333 Afterword—Tikkun Olam: The Restoration and Repair of the World....Pages 334-337 Back Matter....Pages 341-380 Holzkamp (1927-1995) was the founder of German Critical Psychology working on the fundamental renewal of academic psychology. His ideas inspired generations of young scholars discontent with the socio-political function of psychology and the human sciences. Although his approach is discussed internationally, most of his work is not yet available in English. This selection of Holzkamp's writings provides an introduction to his Psychology from the Standpoint of the Subject. In contrast to contemporary psychology's worldlessness, Holzkamp's psychological approach centers on 'human agency' as the individuals' practical influence over the conditions of their lives. Instead of seeking to optimize the individual's adjustment to prevailing conditions, the issue here is the justifiability of such an adjustment as well as the danger of reproducing the conditions of one's own powerlessness by adopting ruling self-evidences. 'Social self-understanding' on the societal reality of individual experience and action plays a key role both as the epistemic interest and method of research

Understanding that the psychological well-being of individuals is inextricably linked to the health of their communities, environments, and cultures, the authors propose a radical interdisciplinary reorientation of psychology to create participatory and dialogical spaces for critical understanding and creative restoration.