Revisiting Social Psychology as History Towards Research as Relational Future Forming: A Decolonizing Agenda

Abstract In this article, I scrutinize Gergen’s argument (Gergen in J Personal Soc Psychol 26(2):309–320, 10.1037/h0034436, 1973) that conventional Western-originated psychological science, by seeking to uncover universal law-like regularities of human behaviour in society (akin to those supposedly discoverable in nature), ambiguous phrasing reflection on the potential consequences of this enterprise in society. I link this to his arguments in various texts about the need to decolonize social scientific endeavours, so as not to ignore or undermine what diverse cultural traditions (and their dynamic development) can offer in terms of ways of knowing-and-living, including in engagement with more-than-human worlds. This can point a way—within and across cultural heritages—for us to co-explore relational potential (locally, nationally, regionally, and globally) to better navigate what he calls a “world on edge” (Gergen in The relational imperative: resources for a world on edge, Taos Institute Publications, 2021).