Psychoanalysis: Its image and its publicISBN: 978-0-7456-3269-8
Paperback
416 pages
February 2008, Polity
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Jaan Valsiner, Clark University
"This is a richly documented and vivid account of key events in
the formation of an academic discipline. It shows how individuals
make history, albeit not in conditions of their own making, by
seeking an alternative path for the globalization of knowledge. The
book traces the apparent failure of the project of rescuing a
social psychology of human beings from the global diffusion of a
local USA model (individualist, prescriptive, ethnocentric).
Ironically, this 'invisible college' was initiated by a visionary
group of US scholars mobilizing allies in Europe, Latin America,
and Asia under adverse Cold-War conditions. This is an encouraging
book. The project of a universally relevant social psychology will
continue to inspire the quest for genuine human
understanding."
Martin W. Bauer, London School of Economics
"This fascinating and important book makes out a carefully
documented and persuasive case that one virtually forgotten
committee, more than any other body, was responsible for shaping
the international social psychology we know today. The book will be
an essential source for future research on and understanding of the
history of social psychology and anyone with an interest in that
history really should read it."
Colin Fraser, University of Cambridge