Tensions between the emancipatory project and the reproduction of scientific hierarchies in a critical social psychology handbook

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22456/2238-152X.149629

Abstract

This review examines the second edition of The Palgrave handbook of critical social psychology, edited by Brendan Gough, a work that seeks to organize diverse conceptual, methodological, and applied currents of critical social psychology. The review covers the six parts of the compendium, highlighting its critique of the psychologization, reductionism, and purported neutrality of mainstream psychology, drawing connections with the Brazilian socio-historical tradition. The assessment acknowledges the handbook’s relevance to the global consolidation of the field. However, a significant limitation is identified in the geopolitical concentration of its contributors, who predominantly originate from the global north, which implies the marginalization of autonomous critical traditions, such as the Latin American one. It is ultimately understood that the handbook, while constituting a potential landmark, may eventually reproduce a center-periphery model in the scientific production of social psychology.

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Author Biography

Fábio Luiz Nunes, Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica de Minas Gerais (CEFET-MG)

Brazilian researcher. He holds a Master's degree and is a PhD candidate in Linguistic Studies at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG). He holds a Specialist Certificate in Didactics, Teaching Practices, and Educational Technologies from the Federal University of the Jequitinhonha and Mucuri Valleys (UFVJM), and in Rhetoric and Discourse Analysis in Advertising and Publicity from the University of Araraquara. He earned his degree in Psychology from the Faculty of Medical Sciences of Minas Gerais. He is a technical-administrative staff member at the Federal Center for Technological Education of Minas Gerais (CEFET-MG). Lattes CV: http://lattes.cnpq.br/3054450943770058. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0784-1921. Email: fabio.nunes.fln@cefetmg.br.

References

Bock, A. M. B., Gonçalves, M. G. M., & Furtado, O. (Orgs.). (2007). Psicologia sócio-histórica: uma perspectiva crítica em psicologia (3a ed.). São Paulo, Brasil: Cortez. Garrido, A., & Álvaro, J. L. (2007). Psicología social: perspectivas psicológicas y sociológicas (2a ed.). McGraw-Hill. Gough, B. (2025). The Palgrave handbook of critical social psychology (2a ed.). Palgrave Macmillan. https://link. springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-80533-2 Lane, S. T. M. (2006). O que é psicologia social (22a ed.). São Paulo, Brasil: Brasiliense. Martín-Baró, I. (2017). Crítica e libertação na psicologia: estudos psicossociais. Petrópolis, Brasil: Vozes. Millán, J. D., Cudina, J. N., Ossa, J. C., Vega-Arce, M., Scholten, H., & Salas, G. (2020). Academic networks of critical social psychology in Brazil. An analysis of the impact and the intellectual roots. Current Psychology. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-00827-9. Myers, D. G. (2014). Psicologia social (10a ed.). Porto Alegre, Brasil: AMGH Editora. Sawaia, B. B. (1999). As artimanhas da exclusão: análise psicossocial e ética da desigualdade social. Petrópolis, Brasil: Vozes.

Published

2026-04-23

How to Cite

Nunes, F. L. (2026). Tensions between the emancipatory project and the reproduction of scientific hierarchies in a critical social psychology handbook. Revista Polis E Psique, 16, e026009. https://doi.org/10.22456/2238-152X.149629

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Artigos