Advanced Introduction to Social Constructivism - Nicholas Onuf;Kurt Burch

Advanced Introduction to Social Constructivism examines an influential strain of social thought holding that human powers and socio-political arrangements are ‘co-constitutive’: people make society what it is, society makes people what they are, and social construction makes the world as we know it. ‘Making’ the world shapes what we accept and craft as meaning, understanding, knowledge, truth, reality, institutions, and power. Chapters illustrate these dynamics, encouraging readers to question assumptions and imagine new possibilities.

Key Features:
Discusses how social realities, truths, and facts are created and contestedExplores the roles of meaning, power, and language in constructing understandingSketches the rise of constructivist scholarship in a dozen fields of studyEngages with the ethical implications of social construction and interdisciplinary perspectivesEvaluates why certain descriptions of reality feel natural and inevitable, yet are at root socially constructedDraws on examples from everyday life, art, science, media, and contemporary politics

This Advanced Introduction invaluably helps students and scholars of philosophy, sociology, political science, international relations, and education keenly engage and deeply navigate contemporary discussions and perspectives on social constructivism and socio-political possibilities.