Sociogenesis Reexamined: An Introduction

Abstract

When starting a center for sociogenetic studies, it was not our intention to propose a project around a clear-cut theoretical framework. The choice for a focus around the idea of sociogenesis was meant to open up some space for an interdisciplinary social scientific approach towards the development of persons in their historical and societal contexts. We strongly believed that much theorizing on human development had eventually ended in the pitfall of the traditional bifurcations between individual and society, between environment and reaction, between dynamic and static approaches. There were, of course, promising perspectives emerging in developmental psychology around the reception of the Russian socio-historical psychologists and the introduction of social psychological theories. And the same could be said about the interest of sociologists and anthropologists in developmental theories. But we felt that the elaboration of a conception of human development as an inherently social process could gain a lot from opening up the borders between disciplines and scientific cultures. The creation of a new world order should not be left to politicians!