(Re)Searching for Persons in Practice: Field-Based Methods for Critical Psychological Practice Research

Abstract

This article explores the degree to which anthropological field work can contribute to constructively reconfigure approaches to the critical psychological study of persons in practice. We argue that a line of development within German/Danish critical psychological practice research ought to be consistent with a development of the critical psychological conception of subjects as persons in practice. Via an examination of anthropological notions of the field and discussions of concrete research projects in Nigeria and Denmark, the article considers what it means to appropriate field work methods to the critical psychological practice research tradition of studying subjects. The paper shows how the anthropological clarification of the socio-political contexts of subjects' lives qualifies the study of persons in practice. We also warn of the dangers of predefining and delimiting the field to such an extent that research subjects are rendered one-of-a-kind rather than persons in practice.

Keywords:

• critical psychology
• practice research
• fieldwork
• persons in practice

Acknowledgement

An earlier version of this article was presented at the Nordic Conference on Activity Theory, Copenhagen, 2004. We are grateful for participants' comments. For sharing in further discussions and commenting on the draft we owe thanks to Ole Dreier, Marianne Hedegaard, Line Lerche M⊘rck, Morten Nissen, and the anonymous reviewers.

Notes

¹We will elaborate on this concept in what follows. Suffice to say at this point that it bears a familial resemblance to Holland and Lave's notion of “history in person” and reflects Dreier's significant focus on participation as fundamental to personhood.

²Huntington's Disease (HD) is a severe, inherited disease that generally appears between the ages of 35 and 45. Neurological symptoms consist of involuntary movements and mental difficulties. The disease progresses over a 10–15 year period, leading eventually to death. There is a 50% risk of passing on the mutation to offspring.

³Thanks to an anonymous reviewer for this formulation.

⁴e.g., Marx/Engels 1998; Leontjev 1978, 1981; Vygotsky 1978.

⁵In German: Bedingungs-, Bedeutungs und Begründungsanalyse.

⁶One anonymous reviewer – to whom we are grateful – suggested ‘situated subjects’ as a synonym for the slightly awkward phrase persons in practice. This would not be far off. Nevertheless, we wish with the term persons in practice to designate the importance of practice in a similar way to which Holland and Lave (2001) emphasise the importance of history in their equally awkward expression “history in person.” For us, persons are not merely situated (in a location, a place, a context); they are to be seen as “in-practice.”

⁷See Passaro's chapter, “You can't take the subway to the field,” in Gupta & Ferguson 1997.

⁸“Getting to know” is a key aspect of field-based research (Jefferson 2004).

⁹“Disposal” is not the most verbatim translation of the German term Verfügung. We use it to follow up on other critical psychological writers' choice of the term.