Making the Unfamiliar Familiar - Some Notes on the Criticism of the Theory of Social Representations

Abstract

The article analyses the critical reception of Serge Moscovici's theory of social representations in Anglo-Saxon literature (Harré 1984; Potter and Litton 1985; Jahoda 1988 and Billig 1988). The criticism is examined with regard to three themes: the unclarity of the theory, the definition of the group and the concept of consensuality, and the process of formation and development of representations. It appeared that the 'social' in Moscovici's theory, however, though largely held to be its chief contribution, is not discussed by these critics, with exception of Harré. The criticism mostly concentrated on pointing out the unclarity of the concepts and the problems of operationalization which derive from it. One may ask whether the aim is to make Moscovici's thoughts familiar by anchoring them onto the individualism of our culture and by objectifying them into the demand of operational definitions. The question is raised, however, as to how lonely a paradigm the theory of social representations actually represents. Finally it is proposed that the 'social' promised by Moscovici's theory should be approached as a problem of the relationship between scientific and everyday conceptions, i.e. in the context of specific aspects of social reality.