Ivana Marková

Human awareness – which forms the basis of all interpersonal relationships – is perhaps the most fascinating phenomenon of biological and socio-cultural evolution. In this innovative book, originally published in 1987, the author introduces the subject of human awareness from the perspective of developmental and social psychology. Using a wide range of psychological and other sources, both classic and more recent from around the world, the book begins with a discussion of awareness as a biological and cultural-historical phenomenon. The reader is then guided through such issues as one’s awareness of others, self-awareness, interpersonal communication, and the search of human beings for recognition by others. The final chapter focuses on human awareness as a relationship between the self and society, with particular emphasis on social stability and change. Human Awareness provided the first comprehensive account of human consciousness in a text that reflected the most exciting recent research in the field at the time and emphasized the need for an integrated and coherent understanding of the various psychological disciplines.

Its Social Development

Human Awareness

Per Linell

Michele Grossen

Anne Salazar Orvig

In contrast to a vast literature that provides information and guides about focus groups as a methodological tool, this book is an introduction to understanding focus groups as analytical means exploring socially shared knowledge. The book examines how to analyse interaction and ideas expressed in focus groups.

Exploring Socially Shared Knowledge

Dialogue in Focus Groups

Ivana Markova

These ten essays are concerned with theoretical and empirical analyses of trust and distrust in post-Communist Europe after the collapse of the Soviet bloc in 1989. Differences between meanings of trust in countries with democratic traditions and in post-totalitarian countries raise questions about the ways in which history, culture and social psychology shape the nature and development of political phenomena. The authors show that while political and economic changes can have rapid effects, cultural and psychological changes may linger behind and influence the quality of political trust and representations of democracy.

Trust and Democratic Transition in Post-Communist Europe

Develops a theory of social knowledge based on dialogicality and social representation.

The Dynamics of Mind

Dialogicality and Social Representations

Alex Gillespie

Trust, distrust and conflict between social groups have existed throughout the history of humankind, although their forms have changed. Using three main concepts: culture, representation and dialogue, this book explores and re-thinks some of these changes in relation to concrete historical and contemporary events. Part I offers a symbolic and historical analysis of trust and distrust while Parts II and III examine trust, distrust and conflict in specific events including the Cyprus conflict, Estonian collective memories, coping with HIV/AIDS in China, Swedish asylum seekers, the Cuban missile crisis and Stalinist confessions. With an impressive array of international contributors the chapters draw on a number of key concepts such as self and other, ingroup and outgroup, contact between groups, categorization, brinkmanship, knowledge, beliefs and myth. Trust and Conflict offers a fresh perspective on the problems that arise from treating trust, distrust and conflict as simplified indicators. Instead, it proposes that human and social sciences can view these phenomena within the complex matrix of interacting perspectives and meta-perspectives that characterise the social world. As such it will be of interest to undergraduates, postgraduates and lecturers of human and social sciences especially social psychology, sociology, political science and communication studies.

Representation, Culture and Dialogue

Trust and Conflict

Marková offers a dialogical perspective to problems in daily life and professional practices involving communication, care, and therapy.

Ivana Marková

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