Backlash against American psychology: An indigenous reconstruction of the history of German critical psychology.

Abstract

After suggesting that all psychologies contain indigenous qualities and discussing differences and commonalities between German and North American historiographies of psychology, an indigenous reconstruction of German critical psychology is applied. It is argued that German critical psychology can be understood as a backlash against American psychology, as a response to the Americanization of German psychology after WWII, on the background of the history of German psychology, the academic impact of the Cold War, and the trajectory of personal biographies and institutions. Using an intellectual-historical perspective, it is shown how and which indigenous dimensions played a role in the development of German critical psychology as well as the limitations to such an historical approach. Expanding from German critical psychology, the role of the critique of American psychology in various contexts around the globe is discussed in order to emphasize the relevance of indigenous historical research.

Alterity Models in Counseling: When We Talk About Diversity, What Are We Actually Talking About?

“…Of all the alterity models presented in this article, it is decolonization that acknowledges, questions, and seeks to interrupt the social forces that engendered othering and oppression in the first place. Getting down to the root of othering by addressing historical trauma, acknowledging the psychological effects of contemporary disenfranchisement, flattening the counselor-client hierarchy to encourage egalitarianism, fostering authentic collaboration, privileging and incorporating nonwestern epistemology, working for distributive justice, promoting cultural sovereignty for disenfranchised groups, and endorsing counter-discourses, may be critical to any alterity work within the field of counseling (Pickren 2009;Teo 2013). As Dorothy Figueira (2007) writes, BThe reality is that before any theory of alterity can be successful…there needs to occur a decolonization of the other^(p. 144).…”

General Psychology as Common Ground and Point of View: Enduring and Evolving Features

“…CP overlaps with other movements, including feminist psychology, critical race theory, indigenous psychology, social justice psychology, social constructionism, and hermeneutic approaches, among others. Its theoretical roots are many, and its projects include both negative critique and the positive contribution of new theory toward the improvement of human life (Teo, 2013). Given its breadth and overlap with other movements, CP presents its own problems of definition and delimitation.…”

“…Coverage of CP is so thoroughgoing in Teo’s work and elsewhere (e.g., Billig, 2008) that there is little I can add to its description, and it is best simply to point the reader to this work (e.g., Teo, 2009, 2013, 2015) However, I would note the following: CP is in some respects coextensive with general psychology, given that its concerns are disciplinary foundations (metapsychology) and values, both epistemic and social. Its very essence is critical evaluation—which I have been repeatedly emphasizing as the point of view of general psychology.…”

Integrating the Emic (Indigenous) with the Etic (Universal)—A Case of Squaring the Circle or for Adopting a Culture Inclusive Action Theory Perspective

“…But he had a theoretical goal basically in agreement with CP. Teo () recently called his critical psychology an IP. But I think this is misleading, he did not restrict his claims to the German culture.…”