Otherness in Question

Development of the Self

Edited by:
Livia Mathias Simão, University of Sao Paulo
Jaan Valsiner, Niels Bohr Professor of Cultural Psychology, Aalborg University

A volume in the series: Advances in Cultural Psychology: Constructing Human Development. Editor(s): Jaan Valsiner, Niels Bohr Professor of Cultural Psychology, Aalborg University.

Published 2007

This book brings to social scientists a new look at how human beings are striving towards understanding others-- and through that effort--making sense of themselves. It brings together researchers from all over the World who have suggested a set of new approaches to the basic research issue of how human beings are social beings, while being unique in their personal ways of being. Issues of social representation, communication, dialogical self, and human subjectivity are represented in this book. The book contributes to the contemporary epistemological and ethical debate about the question of otherness, and would be of interest to educationalists, sociologists, psychologists, and anthropologists. It is an invitation to the wide readership to join in this collective effort towards the construction of new conceptions about myselfothers relationships that allow for innovative understanding of various social practices and problem solving in society.

CONTENTS
Preface. PART I: CONCEPTUAL ROOTS OF “OTHERNESS”. The Enigmatic Other, Ernst Boesch. Why “Otherness” in the Research Domain of Semiotic-Cultural Constructivism? Lívia Mathias Simão. Interview for Part I: Transparency in the Meaning Making Lívia Mathias Simão and Alvaro Duran, in interview with Ernst E. Boesch. PART II: OTHERNESS AND DIALOGICALITY: FEELING INTO PHENOMENA. The Feeling of a Dialogical Self: Affectivity, Agency, and Otherness, João Salgado. At the Boundary of Me and You: Semiotic Architecture of Thinking and Feeling the Other, Emily Abbey. The Self Experience of Otherness and the Shadows of Identity, Nelson Coelho Jr. Interview for Part II: Allusion and Illusions: Dynamics of Self and Otherness, Nandita Chaudhary. PART III: STRIVING TOWARD THE KNOWN UNKNOWN: SELF IN MOTION. Otherness in the Therapeutic Context: The Social Construction of Change, Marisa Japur, Carla Guanaes, and Emerson F. Rasera. Time, Self, and the Other: The Striving Tourist in Ladakh, North India, Alex Gillespie. Dynamics of Interiority: Ruptures and Transitions in the Self Development, Tania Zittoun. Interview for Part III: Striving Toward Novelty in a Scientific Dialogue, Alexander Poddiakov. PART IV: SELF IN COLLECTIVE OTHERNESS. Otherness in Historically Situated Self-Experiences: A Case-Study on how Historical Events Affect the Architecture of the Self, Alberto Rosa, Jorge Castro, and Florentino Blanco. Contemporary Chinese Communication With its Cultural Others, Shi-Xu. The Game of Political Debates: A Play of Social Representationsand Beyond, Derek Richer and Jaan Valsiner. Interview for Part IV: Questions About the Functions of Otherness, Gyuseog Han. PART V: THE OTHER WITHIN THE SELF: DYNAMICS OF MULTIPLICITY. Honoring Self-Otherness: Alterity and the Intrapersonal, Mick Cooper and Hubert Hermans. Intersubjectivity and Otherness: A Stage for Self Strivings, Danilo Silva Guimarães and Livia Mathias Simão. Human Development as Migration: Striving Towards the Unknown, Jaan Valsiner. Interview for Part V: Intersubjectivity and the Experience of Otherness: A Reflection Upon Relational Accounts of Subjectivity, Carla Cunha. General Conclusions. About the Authors.

REVIEWS
"These are relevant and important studies for educators.... it does offer its readers insightful analysis and an accessible view into the relation between self and other...." Seamus Mulryan in Education Review