"An essential source of study of social representations."
--"Educational Book Review"

Considered the leading contemporary European social psychologist for his groundbreaking work on social influence and crowd psychology, Serge Moscovici has played a definitive role in shaping the trajectory of modern social inquiry. Bringing together the key texts in which he outlines and defines his benchmark theory of social representationsincluding several essays never previously published in Englishhis indispensable sourcebook illustrates the enormous range and scope of Moscovici's work.

Moscovici purports a theory of social representations remarkably distinct from the dominant themes in contemporary U.S. social psychology. In contrast to the traditionally individualistic emphasis, Moscovici's work is embedded in a broader social and cultural tradition and is passionately concerned with the social context in which meaning is constructed and lives are enacted. His radical and lucid approach offers fresh and multifarious ways of seeing the world while his clear and coherent perspective provides a rich contribution to a discipline which has been notoriously fragmented.

Addressing contemporary social phenomena rather than being trapped within the artificial limits of laboratory experimentation, Moscovici draws upon the diverse traditions of the wider social sciences, making him a primary voice within the community of social theorists.

Sure to fascinate any researcher, scholar, student, or practitioner of social psychology, Social Representations provides a representative and long overdue collection of Moscovici's unique and important work.

This volume discusses the interface between human development and socio-cultural processes by exploring the writings of Gerard Duveen, an internationally renowned figure, whose untimely death left a void in the fields of socio-developmental psychology, cultural psychology, and research into social representations. Duveen's original and comprehensive approach continues to offer fresh insight into core theoretical, methodological and empirical problems in contemporary psychology. In this collection the editors have carefully selected Duveen's most significant papers to demonstrate the innovative nature of his contribution to developmental, social and cultural psychology. Divided into three sections, the book includes: Duveen's engagement with Jean Piaget the role of social life in human development and the making of cognition social representations and social identities Introduced with chapters from Serge Moscovici, Sandra Jovchelovitch and Brady Wagoner, this book presents previously unpublished papers, as well as chapters available here in English for the first time. It will be essential reading for those studying high level developmental psychology, educational psychology, social psychology, and cultural psychology.

This volume discusses the interface between human development and socio-cultural processes by exploring the writings of Gerard Duveen, an internationally renowned figure, whose untimely death left a void in the fields of socio-developmental psychology, cultural psychology, and research into social representations. Duveen's original and comprehensive approach continues to offer fresh insight into core theoretical, methodological and empirical problems in contemporary psychology. In this collection the editors have carefully selected Duveen's most significant papers to demonstrate the innovative nature of his contribution to developmental, social and cultural psychology. Divided into three sections, the book includes: Duveen's engagement with Jean Piaget the role of social life in human development and the making of cognition social representations and social identities Introduced with chapters from Serge Moscovici, Sandra Jovchelovitch and Brady Wagoner, this book presents previously unpublished papers, as well as chapters available here in English for the first time. It will be essential reading for those studying high level developmental psychology, educational psychology, social psychology, and cultural psychology.

The contents of the first two volumes were, we gladly admit, at once more familiar and easier to handle. We were concerned with mass and leadership psychology, two factors that we know from social and political life. They have been much studied and we can clearly trace their evolution. However, since actions by masses and leaders also have an intellectual and emotional side, we were obliged, in some way or other, to deal with this topic as well. It was obviously necessary, it seemed to us, to approach this study from a new and significant angle. One cannot escape the realiza tion that "conspiracy theory" has played, and continues to play, a central role in our epoch, and has had very serious consequences. The obsession with conspiracy has spread to such an extent that it continuously crops up at all levels of society. The fol lowing paradox must be striking to anyone: In the past, society was governed by a small number of men, at times by one individual, who, within traditional limits, imposed his will on the multitude. Plots were effective: By eliminating these individuals and their families, one could change the course of events. Today, this is no longer the case. Power is divided among parties and extends throughout society. Power flows, changes hands, and affects opinion, which no one controls and no one represents entirely."

"An essential source of study of social representations."
--"Educational Book Review"

Considered the leading contemporary European social psychologist for his groundbreaking work on social influence and crowd psychology, Serge Moscovici has played a definitive role in shaping the trajectory of modern social inquiry. Bringing together the key texts in which he outlines and defines his benchmark theory of social representationsincluding several essays never previously published in Englishhis indispensable sourcebook illustrates the enormous range and scope of Moscovici's work.

Moscovici purports a theory of social representations remarkably distinct from the dominant themes in contemporary U.S. social psychology. In contrast to the traditionally individualistic emphasis, Moscovici's work is embedded in a broader social and cultural tradition and is passionately concerned with the social context in which meaning is constructed and lives are enacted. His radical and lucid approach offers fresh and multifarious ways of seeing the world while his clear and coherent perspective provides a rich contribution to a discipline which has been notoriously fragmented.

Addressing contemporary social phenomena rather than being trapped within the artificial limits of laboratory experimentation, Moscovici draws upon the diverse traditions of the wider social sciences, making him a primary voice within the community of social theorists.

Sure to fascinate any researcher, scholar, student, or practitioner of social psychology, Social Representations provides a representative and long overdue collection of Moscovici's unique and important work.

The Age of the Crowd is at one level an historical account of the development of mass psychology, and at another an analysis of its implications for prevalent political and social life. It was the prophecy of Gustave Le Bon in 1895 that the twentieth century would be 'l'age des foules' that gave Serge Moscovici the title for his book, and it presents a systematic exposition of Le Bon's ideas and those of Gabriel Tarde, demonstrating convincingly their influence on the theories of collective psychology advanced by Sigmund Freud. These theories are re-examined by Professor Moscovici in a fascinating commentary on political life: Hitler, Mussolini, Lenin, Stalin and Trotsky all in some way applied them in their leadership styles with consequences that are all too familiar. The scenario painted by this volume is a disturbing one. Serge Moscovici's acute analyses of mass phenomena raise fundamental questions concerning the foundations of democracy.

How does a minority exert influence on a majority? Traditionally social psychologists have characterised influence as a process leading to conformity - the minority coming to accept the view of the majority. For the contributors to this volume, working in a society where the reverse process is frequently exemplified - a society characterised by change and innovation - such an approach is no longer tenable. They believe that only by examining social processes also in terms of minority influence can the paradox be resolved. The volume is organised into two broadly based but interconnected parts. Part I analyses the process of influence itself, while Part II sets it within the context of groups. The influence of minorities is thus located within the cognitive and social field in which interaction between minorities and majorities occurs. The original and dynamic research paradigms presented here and the theoretical and empirical results that are reported offer alternative insights not only into the phenomenon of influence per se, but also into such classical notions as 'the group' , 'deviance' and 'convergence'.

How does a minority exert influence on a majority? Traditionally social psychologists have characterised influence as a process leading to conformity - the minority coming to accept the view of the majority. For the contributors to this volume, working in a society where the reverse process is frequently exemplified - a society characterised by change and innovation - such an approach is no longer tenable. They believe that only by examining social processes also in terms of minority influence can the paradox be resolved. The volume is organised into two broadly based but interconnected parts. Part I analyses the process of influence itself, while Part II sets it within the context of groups. The influence of minorities is thus located within the cognitive and social field in which interaction between minorities and majorities occurs. The original and dynamic research paradigms presented here and the theoretical and empirical results that are reported offer alternative insights not only into the phenomenon of influence per se, but also into such classical notions as 'the group' , 'deviance' and 'convergence'.

This book presents a bold new theory of the processes of collective decision-making that draws on theoretical influences ranging from group decision theory through to the authors' own social representations theory. Moscovici and Doise offer a novel analysis of group conflict and the construction of consensus to produce a general theory of collective decisions. Going beyond the traditional view that compromise is a negative process where group members merely comply in order to sustain cohesion, the authors argue that the conflict at the root of group decisions can be a positive force leading to changes in opinion and to innovation. Their theoretical framework is illustrated in depth with numerous empirical investigations from around the world.