The Social Construction of Reality, A Four-Headed, Two-Fingered Book: An Interview with Thomas Luckmann

Abstract

First published in 1966, The Social Construction of Reality, by Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann, marked the beginning of a significant transformation in social theory and the sociology of knowledge. In this interview Luckmann relates the working dynamic of writing the book four-handed and details his further collaborations with Berger. He then describes their expectations on the possible impact of the book and his view on how it was actually received. The interview concludes with Luckmann noting some misunderstandings of so-called ‘constructivism’ and clarifying the intended meaning of the term social construction.

Streets and Statues in Black and White: Deconstructing America’s Racial Reality in National Geographic

“…In the interview, Luckmann clarified his intended meaning of the term "social construction." He says rather than "construction," he would prefer to use the term "building" since "construction" often can be misinterpreted (Dreher & Vera, 2016).…”

Between openness and closure: Helmuth Plessner and the boundaries of social life

“…Although at first glance the influence of Gehlen’s (2009 [1950]) institutional conservatism seems more apparent when Luckmann remarks that the authors were seeking to highlight ‘the weight – and occasionally heavy weight – of tradition, of history, of past constructions’ (Dreher and Hector, 2016: 32) on human life, the idea of the book was nevertheless motivated by breaking with the static world of structural functionalism dominant at the time (Dreher and Hector, 2016: 33). Thus, Berger and Luckmann highlight the fact that societal reality is not directly given, but constantly in flux in a steady move between subjective and objective societal realities.…”

“…This, however, does not imply some sort of postmodern arbitrariness (Feyerabend, Lyotard) or the idea that society is ‘nothing but’ a social construction, as ‘radical’ constructivist accounts (von Foerster, Luhmann) 11 suggest. Instead, the construction of ‘a human world by human actors’ is grounded in the anthropological preconditions of human life: ‘The bricks are the human body, evolutionary givens and preconditions, et cetera’, as Luckmann remarks in an interview (Dreher and Hector, 2016: 31–32). And it is Plessner’s Philosophical Anthropological account that supplements Gehlen’s institutional conservatism with the dynamic moment that has become the trademark of what has become known as one of the most important books in postwar social sciences.…”

“… 11. As Luckmann remarks in an interview against this type of ‘radical’ constructivism, ‘the idea that some so-called social constructivists have is that you can make houses without bricks, that this is a sort of autopoietic exercise in thin air. I consider this total nonsense’ (Dreher and Hector 2016: 31–32). …”

Under the sacred canopy

“…4 Meanwhile, its title has become eponymous of a movement in the social sciences that is more inspired by pragmatism and post-structuralism than by social phenomenology. Given the uses and abuses of ‘the social construction of X’, both the authors have disowned the title (Dreher and Vera, 2016; Vera, 2016), but without ever mentioning that the building metaphor is only a truncated translation of Husserl’s Konstitution . 5 The subtitle of the (1966) book, A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge , makes the connection to phenomenology clear.…”