Social representations theory and critical: Constructionism: Insights from Caillaud's article

he aim of this paper is to highlight therole that Social Representations Theory (SRT) could play in the debate on the criticalpotential of social constructionist perspectives. Wedraw upon some of the arguments raised by Caillaud (this issue), mainly concerning such a sensitive topic as environmental issues, to highlightsomecrucial points of that debate. As is well known, one of the goals of the social constructionist movement has been to takea more critical stance towards taken-for-granted knowledge (Gergen,1985; Burr,1995). It aimsto show that our understanding of the world is by no means neutral or value-free;it is instead the result of historical and cultural specificities, which operate ideologically. In this vein, the social constructionist approach raises the question of social transformation and emancipation, as well as the problems of power and social inequality, in close consonance with the scope of the more general critical approach in psychology (Tolman&Maiers, 1991).