Fractures and Intersections of Anthropology and Social Psychology – Interdisciplinarity Through Social Representation Theory As a Strategy for Cultural Studies Cover Image

Rascjepi i presjeci antropologije i socijalne psihologije – Interdisciplinarnost kroz teoriju socijalnih reprezentacija kao strategija u kulturnim studijima
Fractures and Intersections of Anthropology and Social Psychology – Interdisciplinarity Through Social Representation Theory As a Strategy for Cultural Studies

Author(s): Ana Tomičić
Subject(s): Anthropology, Cultural Anthropology / Ethnology, Social psychology and group interaction
Published by: Sveučilište u Zagrebu, Filozofski fakultet
Keywords: interdisciplinarity; social psychology; anthropology; cultural studies; social representations; methodology

Summary/Abstract: This article examines the analytical and methodological potential of the 'psycho-socio-cultural' interface, i.e. the intersections between (social) psychology and anthropology. In contrast to cultural anthropology, which does not always shy away from psychological tools as adequate research methods, social anthropology has historically seldom shown interest in psychological insights, even willingly ignoring field research in social psychology, as well as the social psychological contributions to the study of social interactions. In order to highlight the usefulness of a disciplinary rapprochement in more detail, the first part of this article is devoted to the methodological and analytical implications arising from the complementarity between the “essentially psychological nature of anthropology” and social psychology, through the theory of social representations, which Moscovici considers as the “anthropology of modern culture”. We will then look specifically at the theory of social representations, whose epistemological conceptualisation of the interaction between individuals and society provides a framework for bridging the disciplinary gaps between anthropology and social psychology, as a strategy for cultural studies. Finally, the paper discusses what academic and social effects such a psycho-anthropological approach could yield. Fractures and intersections of anthropology and social psychology – Interdisciplinarity through social representation theory as a strategy for cultural studies.

  • Issue Year: 2022
  • Issue No: 34
  • Page Range: 277-307
  • Page Count: 31
  • Language: Croatian