Abstract
This chapter provides a case for a critical social psychology of class. By way of doing so, it first traces some of the antecedents to critical social psychology through a discussion of the ‘crisis’ in psychology some several decades ago. We then provide an overview of the central arguments of Marxism, feminism and poststructuralist-informed discursive approaches (key influences on critical psychology) and present a selection of class-focussed research informed by these respective approaches. Finally, we point to what a critical social psychology of class might look like, drawing attention to the need for historical-discursive approaches to classification, the importance of intersectional analyses, and attention to the ‘everyday’ of class-making across a range of cultural sites.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Arfken, M. (2017). Marxism as a foundation for critical social psychology. In B. Gough (Ed.), The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Social Psychology (pp. 37–58). London: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-51018-1.
Augoustinos, M. (1999). Ideology, false consciousness and psychology. Theory & Psychology, 9(3), 295–312. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959354399093002.
Baxter, J. (2003). Positioning Gender in Discourse. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Berry, J. W. (1978). Social psychology: Comparative, societal and universal. Canadian Psychological Review, 19, 93–104. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/h0081473.
Billig, M. (1999). Commodity fetishism and repression: Reflections on Marx, Freud and the psychology of consumer capitalism. Theory & Psychology, 9(3), 313–329. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959354399093003.
Billig, M. (2002). Henri Tajfel’s ‘cognitive aspects of prejudice’ and the psychology of bigotry. British Journal of Social Psychology, 41(2), 171–188.
Blackman, L. M. (1996). The dangerous classes: Retelling the psychiatric story. Feminism & Psychology, 6(3), 361–379. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959353596063002.
Boulding, K. (1980). Science: Our common heritage. Science, 207, 826–831. https://jackappleton.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/boulding-1980-science.pdf.
Bourdieu, P. (1984). Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Brewer, S. (1996). The political is personal: Father-daughter relationships and working-class consciousness. Feminism & Psychology, 6(3), 401–410. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959353596063004.
Brewster Smith, M. (1972). Is experimental social psychology advancing? Journal of Social Experimental Psychology, 8, 86–96. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-1031(72)90063-7.
Bryan, J. H. (1972). Why children help: A review. Journal of Social Issues, 28, 87–104.
Burman, E., & Parker, I. (1993). Discourse Analytic Research: Repertoires and Readings of Texts in Action. London: Routledge.
Burr, V. (2003). Social Constructionism (2nd ed.). London: Routledge.
Burr, V. (2015). Social Constructionism. London: Routledge.
Cartwright, D. (1979). Social psychology in historical perspective. Social Psychology Quarterly, 42(1), 82–93. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3033880.
Chamberlain, K., & Murray, M. (2009). Critical health psychology. In D. Fox, I. Prilleltensky, & S. Austin (Eds.), Critical Psychology: An Introduction (pp. 144–158). London: Sage.
Crawford, M., & Marecek, J. (1989). Feminist theory, feminist psychology. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 13, 477–491. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-6402.1989.tb01015.x.
Crenshaw, K. (1989). Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A Black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory, and antiracist politics. University of Chicago Legal Forum, 139–167. Available https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1052&context=uclf.
Crenshaw, K. (1993 [1994]). Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. In M. A. Fineman & R. Mykitiuk (Eds.), The Public Nature of Private Violence (pp. 93–118). New York: Routledge.
Danziger, K. (1990). Constructing the Subject: Historical Origins of Psychological Research. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Davis, K. (2008). Intersectionality as buzzword: A sociology of science perspective on what makes a feminist perspective successful. Feminist Theory, 9(1), 67–85. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464700108086364.
Day, K., Rickett, B., & Woolhouse, M. (2014). Class dismissed: Putting social class on the critical psychological agenda. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 8(8), 397–407. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12118.
Derrida, J. (1976). The supplement of copula: Philosophy before linguistics. The Georgia Review, 30(3), 527–564.
Derrida, J. (1987). The Post Card: From Socrates to Freud and Beyond. Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press.
de Saussure, F. (1974). A Course in General Linguistics. London: Fontana.
Eagly, A. (1995). The science and politics of comparing women and men. American Psychologist, 50(3), 145–158. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446269930.n2.
Edley, N. (2001). Unravelling social constructionism. Theory & Psychology, 11(3), 433–441. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959354301113008.
Elms, A. C. (1975, October). The crisis of confidence in social psychology. American Psychologist, 967–976. Available at https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1976-04477-001.
Flynn, T. (1994). Foucault’s mapping of history. In G. Gutting (Ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Foucault (pp. 28–46). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Foucault, M. (1971). Nietzsche, la genbalogie, I’histoire’. In Hommage a Jean Hyppolite. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.
Foucault, M. (1972). The Archaeology of Knowledge. London: Tavistock.
Foucault, M. (1977). Discipline and Punish. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Foucault, M. (1979). Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. London: Penguin.
Fox, D., Prilleltensky, I., & Austin, S. (Eds.). (2009). Critical Psychology: An Introduction (2nd ed.). London: Sage.
Gergen, K. (1973). Social psychology as history. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 26(2), 309–320. Available at https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1973-31110-001.
Gergen, K. J. (1978). Towards generative theory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36, 1344–1360. Available at https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1980-09614-001.
Goldberg, B. (1999). A psychology of need and the abstraction of ‘value’. Theory & Psychology, 9(3), 353–366. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959354399093005.
Grigoryan, L., Bai, X., Durante, F., Fiske, S. T., Fabrykant, M., Hakobjanyan, A., … Yahiiaiev, I. (2020). Stereotypes as historical accidents: Images of social class in postcommunist versus capitalist societies. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 46(6), 927–943. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167219881434.
Hare-Mustin, R. T., & Marecek, J. (1988). The meaning of difference: Gender theory, postmodernism, and psychology. American Psychologist, 43(6), 455–464. Available at https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037/0003-066X.43.6.455.
Hepburn, A. (2003). An Introduction to Critical Social Psychology. London: Sage.
Holt, M., & Griffin, C. (2005). Students versus locals: Young adults’ constructions of the working-class Other. British Journal of Social Psychology, 44, 241–267. https://doi.org/10.1348/014466604X17614.
Islam, G., & Zyphur, M. (2009). Concepts and directions in critical industrial/organizational psychology. In D. Fox, I. Prilleltensky, & S. Austin (Eds.), Critical Psychology: An Introduction (pp. 110–125). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Jones, S. J. (2003). Complex subjectivities: Class, ethnicity, and race in women’s narratives of upward mobility. Journal of Social Issues, 59(4), 803–820. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.0022-4537.2003.00091.x.
Kim, U. (1999). After the “crisis” in social psychology: The development of the transactional model of science. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 2, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-839X.00023.
Leonardo, Z. (2004). The unhappy marriage between Marxist and race critique: Political economy and the production of racialized knowledge. Policy Futures in Education, 2(3–4), 483–493. https://doi.org/10.2304/pfie.2004.2.3.4.
Levine, M. (1974). Scientific method and the adversary model: Some preliminary thoughts. American Psychologist, 29, 661–667. Available at https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1977-09339-001.
Lott, B. (1985). The potential enrichment of social/personality psychology through feminist research and vice versa. American Psychologist, 40(2), 155–164. Available at https://psycnet.apa.org/journals/amp/40/2/155.html.
Lykes, M., & Stewart, A. (1986). Evaluating the feminist challenge to research in personality and social psychology: 1963–1983. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 10, 393–412. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-6402.1986.tb00764.x.
Magnusson, E. (2011). Women, men and all other categories: Psychologies for theorizing for human diversity. Nordic Psychology, 63, 88–114. https://doi.org/10.1027/1901-2276/a000034.
Marecek, J. (1989). Introduction. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 13, 367–377. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-6402.1989.tb01008.x.
Marecek, J., & Hare-Mustin, R. (2009). Clinical psychology: The politics of madness. In D. Fox, I. Prilleltensky, & S. Austin (Eds.), Critical Psychology: An Introduction (pp. 75–92). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Marx, K. (1977). Critique of Hegel’s’ philosophy of right. CUP Archive.
Marx, K., & Engels, F. (1964). The German Ideology. Moscow: Progress.
Marx, K., & Engels, F. (1976). Marx & Engels Collected Works Vol 06: Marx and Engels: 1845–1848.
McDermott, E. (2006). Surviving in dangerous places: Lesbian identity performances in the workplace, social class, and psychological health. Feminism & Psychology, 16(2), 193–211. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959-353506062977.
McGuire, W. J. (1973). The yin and yang of progress of social psychology: Seven koan. Journal of Social and Personality Psychology, 26(3), 446–456.
Mendoza, R. (2015). Working identity vicissitudes: Difficulties in symmetrical relationships—A case study. Annual Review of Critical Psychology, 12, 80–91.
Morawski, J. (1997). The science behind feminist research methods. Journal of Social Issues, 53(4), 667–681. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1997.tb02455.x.
Morris, C., & Munt, S. R. (2019). Classed formations of shame in white, British single mothers. Feminism & Psychology, 29(2), 231–249. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959353518787847.
Ostrove, J. M. (2003). Belonging and wanting: Meanings of social class background for women’s constructions of their college experiences. Journal of Social Issues, 59(4), 771–784.
Ostrove, J. M., & Cole, E. R. (2003). Privileging class: Towards a critical psychology of social class in the context of education. Journal of Social Issues, 59, 677–692. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.0022-4537.2003.00084.x.
Parker, I. (2009). Critical psychology and revolutionary Marxism. Theory & Psychology, 19(1), 71–92. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959354308101420.
Parker, I. (Ed.). (2015). Handbook of Critical Psychology. London: Routledge and Taylor & Francis Group.
Parker, I., & Spears, R. (1996). Psychology and Society: Radical Theory and Practice. London: Pluto Press.
Pepitone, A. (1976). Toward a normative and comparative biocultural social psychology. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 34, 142–148. Available at https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1977-21065-001.
Pini, M. (1996). Dances classes—Dancing between classifications. Feminism & Psychology, 6(3), 411–426. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959353596063005.
Potter, J., & Wetherell, M. (1987). Discourse and Social Psychology: Beyond Attitudes and Behaviour. London: Sage.
Reay, D. (2018). Working class educational transitions to university: The limits of success. European Journal of Educational, 53, 528–540. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejed.12298.
Reay, D., Crozier, G., & Clayton, J. (2009). ‘Stranger in paradise?’ Working-class students in elite universities. Sociology, 43(6), 1103–1121. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038509345700.
Reay, D., Davies, J., David, M., & Ball, S. J. (2001). Choices of degree or degrees of choice? Class, ‘race’ and the higher education choice process. Sociology, 35(4), 855–874.
Richardson, K. M., & Rothstein, H. R. (2008). Effects of occupational stress management intervention programs: A meta-analysis. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 13(1), 69–93. https://doi.org/10.1037/1076-8998.13.1.69.
Romanyshyn, R. D. (1971). The method and meaning in psychology: The method has been the message. Journal of Phenomenological Psychology, 2(1), 93–113. https://doi.org/10.1163/156916271X00048.
Rosenthal, R. (1966). Experimental Effects in Behavioral Research. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
Ryan, B. (1999). Does postmodernism mean the end of science in the behavioural sciences, and does it matter anyway? Theory & Psychology, 9(4), 483–502. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959354399094003.
Sampson, E. (1977). Psychology and the American ideal. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 35(11), 767–782. Available at https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1979-28675-001.
Sampson, E. (1978). Scientific paradigms and social values: Wanted—A scientific revolution. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36, 1332–1343. Available at https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1980-08604-001.
Skeggs, B. (1997). Formations of Class and Gender: Becoming Respectable. London: Routledge.
Skeggs, B. (2004). Class, Culture, Self. London: Routledge.
Stam, H. (2001). Introduction: Social constructionism and its critics. Theory & Psychology, 11(3), 291–296. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959354301113001.
Stich, A. E., & Freie, C. (2016). Introduction: The working classes and higher education: An introduction to a complicated relationship. In A. E. Stich & C. Freie (Eds.), The Working Classes and Higher Education: Inequality of Access, Opportunity and Outcome (pp. 1–10). London: Routledge.
Tavris, C. (1993). The mismeasure of woman. Feminism & Psychology, 3(2), 149–168. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959353593032002.
Taylor, Y. (2005). Classes in a classless climate: Me and my associates… Feminism & Psychology, 15(4), 491–500. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959-353505057621.
Teo, T. (1999). Marxist psychologists. Bald intellectuals, officials of truth or revolutionaries? Theory & Psychology, 9(3), 427–432. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959354399093013.
Unger, R. (1979). Toward a redefinition of sex and gender. American Psychologist, 34(11), 1085–1094. Available at https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1980-05376-001.
Unger, R. (1982). Advocacy versus scholarship revisited: Issues in the psychology of women. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 7(1), 5–17. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-6402.1982.tb00605.x.
Volpato, C., Andrighetto, L., & Baldissarri, C. (2017). Perceptions of low‐status workers and the maintenance of the social class status quo. Journal of Social Issues, 73(1), 192–210.
Walkerdine, V. (1996). Subjectivity and social class: New directions for feminist psychology. Feminism & Psychology, 6, 355–360. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959353596063001.
Weisstein, N. (1968). Kinde, Kuche, Kirche as Scientific Law: Psychology Constructs the Female. Boston, MA: New England Free Press.
Weedon, C. (1987). Feminist Practice and Poststructuralist Theory. Oxford: Blackwell.
Wetherell, M. (1999). Beyond binaries. Theory & Psychology, 9(3), 399–406. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959354399093009.
Wigginton, B., & Lafrance, M. (2019). Learning critical feminist research: A brief introduction to feminist epistemologies and methodologies. Feminism & Psychology, 29(4), 534–552. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959353519866058.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Day, K., Rickett, B., Woolhouse, M. (2020). Conceptualising Social Class: Towards a Critical Social Psychological Approach (Maxine Woolhouse). In: Critical Social Psychology of Social Class. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55965-6_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55965-6_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-55964-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-55965-6
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)