Culture, epochs, and psychological knowledge

pp. 155-176

in: Thomas Teo, Outline of theoretical psychology, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2018

Abstract

From a critical perspective, it is important to assess the implications of the historical fact that psychology as an academic discipline has been developed in modern Western societies. Culture is conceptualized in terms of a time period (epoch, historical culture, Zeitgeist) and as a geographical (or indigenous) context. Cultures can be dominant or marginalized, which adds the concept of power to critical analysis. It is shown how underlying "cultures' are shaping epistemologies, but also ontologies, ethics, and aesthetics. The idea of post-postmodernism is introduced in order to appreciate postmodernism's insights but also to understand its aporias. Most critical psychologists are sympathetic to the suggestion of the historical, cultural, and social constitution of knowledge, but need to rely on a criterion that allows them to distinguish ideology from epistemology. It is shown that from a critical perspective, the problem of epistemic ethnocentrism is not confined to samples, but includes distortions and interests that emerge from hypotheses, interpretations, and research practices that psychologists have adopted. Alternatives in postcolonial, indigenous, and cultural studies are presented.