Abstract

T. M. Nebe (2003).
A Theory of Structural Constraints on the Individual’s Social Representing?
A comment on Jaan Valsiner’s (2003) “Theory of Enablement”.
Papers on Social Representations, 12, pages 10.1-10.5
[http://www.psr.jku.at/]

 

In this comment, I will argue that while constituting a long called for contribution to
understanding how social representations (as phenomena) are employed by
individuals to make sense of the world around them, Valsiner’s ‘Theory of
Enablement’ fails to account for the social and relational nature of social
representing. By instrumentalising the concept of social representation as a
‘constraining’ semiotic mediation device, the genesis of such devices and their
alleged nature as ‘enabling’ remain unexplained. If, I argue, the ‘Theory of
Enablement’ is nothing more than a theory of structural constraints on individual
action, the dynamic and dialogical assumptions of this nascent approach are lost.