Social Representations and the Development of Knowledge

This volume raises for the first time developmental issues in relation to the theory of social representations, which Serge Moscovici introduced to account for the influence of social life on psychological processes. Moscovici describes a society's values, ideas, beliefs and practices as social representations that function both as rule systems structuring social life and as codes facilitating communication. The editors' introduction identifies the need to expand the theory of social representations to consider developmental changes in social beliefs, in individual understanding, and in the process of communication. Individual chapters examine change in nursery school life, gender, social divisions in society, images of childhood, emotion, intelligence and psychology. Moscovici's final chapter considers the contribution of these developmental perspectives. The book will interest specialists and students within the human and social sciences, including developmental and social psychology, sociology, and communication studies.