The implications of dialogicality for ‘giving voice’ in social representations research

Towards a social psychology of precarity

This article introduces the special issue 'Towards a Social Psychology of Precarity' that develops an orienting lens for social psychologists' engagement with the concept. As guest editors of the special issue, we provide a thematic overview of how 'precarity' is being conceptualized throughout the social sciences, before distilling the nine contributions to the special issue. In so doing, we trace the ways in which social psychologists are (dis)engaging with the concept of precarity, yet too, explore how precarity constitutes, and is embedded within, the discipline itself. Resisting disciplinary decadence, we collectively explore what a social psychology of precarity could be, and view working with/in precarity as fundamental to addressing broader calls for the social responsiveness of the discipline. The contributing papers, which are methodologically pluralistic and provide rich conceptualisations of precarity, challenge reductionist individualist understandings of suffering and coping and extend social science theorizations on precarity. They also highlight the ways in which social psychology remains complicit in perpetuating different forms of precarity, for both communities and academics. We propose future directions for the social psychological study of precarity through four reflexive questions that we encourage scholars to engage with so that we may both work with/in, and intervene against, 'the precarious'.

I’ll never forget: Remembering of past events within the Silent Generation as a challenge to the political mobilisation of nostalgia

The political mobilisation of nostalgia is increasingly preoccupying social and political psychologists. A key concern is with rising populism and the use of an imagined golden past to foster threat through anti-EU and anti-immigrant sentiment. This article introduces two key concepts, anemoia – imagining a past not experienced – and prolepsis – how the past influences actions in the present aligned to future goals – to argue that actual recall of past biographical events potentially counters the influence of nostalgic rhetoric designed to influence political decision-making. The focus of this article is a single Scottish case study, Rachel, a member of the Silent Generation of citizens aged over 75 years, who have a living memory of World War II and its aftermath. A dialogical analysis was carried out identifying key I-positions and chronotopic analysis of the dialogical self, relating to experienced extreme childhood poverty and deprivation, anti-Semitism and limited mobility. This demonstrated how living through a historic event and its repercussions, rather than imagining a past not experienced, mitigates against nostalgia. This raises the question of how much mobilisation of the events of a glorious past and anxieties about the future rely upon the unexamined silence of those who recall those same events.

Using a community-based participatory research approach to meaningfully engage those with lived experience of diabetes and homelessness

INTRODUCTION

Participatory research is a study method that engages patients in research programs, ideally from study design through to dissemination. It is not commonly used in diabetes health services research. Our objectives were to describe the process and challenges of conducting a participatory research project and to highlight the experiences of both patient co-researchers and academic researchers.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

We recruited people with lived experience of homelessness (PWLEH) and diabetes in Toronto, Canada to become patient co-researchers. They were asked to commit to attending biweekly meetings. We undertook two major research projects: concept mapping to choose a research focus; and photovoice to explore accessing healthy food while homeless. We used a convergent mixed-methods design to evaluate their experience.

RESULTS

A diverse group of eight PWLEH had an average attendance of 82% over 21 meetings-despite this success, we encountered a number of challenges of conducting this research: funding, ethics approval and recruitment were particularly difficult. Group members reported that participation improved their ability to self-advocate in their diabetes care and provided them with tangible skills and social benefits. Group members stated that they valued being involved in all aspects of the research, in particular knowledge translation activities, including advocating for nutritious food at shelters; presenting to stakeholders; and meeting with policymakers.

CONCLUSIONS

The use of participatory research methods enables academic researchers to support community members in pursuing research that is pertinent to them and which has a positive impact. In our study, co-researchers contributed in meaningful ways and also valued the experience.

"A woman's life is tension": A gendered analysis of women's distress in poor urban India

The mental health of women living in poverty is a growing public health concern, particularly in India where the burden of illness is compounded by critical shortages in mental health providers and fragmented services. This was an exploratory study which sought to examine low-income women's perceptions of mental illness and its management in the context of urban poverty in India. This research was prompted by the lack of empirical studies documenting how women in marginalized sections of society understand mental illness. Data were collected through a combination of 10 focus group discussions and two individual interviews with a total of 63 women residing in low-income areas of Mumbai. Social representations theory was used to explore shared meanings of mental illness among women in this setting. Thematic analysis of the data showed that women use the expression "tension" to talk about mental illness. Tension was described both as an ordinary part of life and a condition having its origins in more profound gender-related stressors, particularly pressures surrounding motherhood, chronic poverty and domestic conflict. Approaches to managing tension were pluralistic and focused on the resumption of social roles. Findings are consistent with other studies in similar cultural contexts, suggesting a shared, transnational character to women's distress and the need for scholarship on women's mental health in low-income settings to be more attuned to gendered forms of marginalization.

Dialogical exemplars as communicative tools: Resituating knowledge from dialogical single case studies

In this article, we develop the concept of ‘dialogical exemplars’ as communicative tools for scholars who wish to ‘resituate knowledge’ from dialogical single case studies. Exemplars are typological representatives that try to convey typicality in non-taxonomic terms, yet in the existing literature, they are defined in terms of their relationship to a population, class or sample. We suggest instead that ‘dialogical exemplars’, as specific instances that have the self-other at their core, can be used to convey the ‘wholeness’ of cases to various audiences. To support this proposition, we draw upon two single case studies, built 30 years apart, that are concerned with children’s daily lives and experiences. Specifically, we develop a dialogue with and between examples from each case of children's play, not only to make the case for ‘dialogical exemplars’, but also to evidence the process through which we arrived at this concept. We highlight that this process is one that researchers often go through, but, rather curiously, rarely document. In conclusion, we suggest that ‘resituating knowledge’ might be best thought of as several, non-linear, stages in the process of dialogical research that involve, and invite further dialogue.

Introduction to the special issue on generalisation from dialogical single case studies

Drawing on historical, theoretical and cultural knowledge, this introduction explains and justifies the importance of generalisation from dialogical single case studies. We clarify the meaning of dialogism and dialogicality, differentiate between single case studies and dialogical single case studies, identify the dynamic and ethical features of dialogical single case studies, and articulate the problem of generalisation as it pertains to this topic. We suggest that the question of generalisation ought to be viewed as an effort to resituate knowledge and its dialogical features, for example values, ethical standards or levels of engagement, in other dialogical single case studies.