A Theory of Structural Constraints on the Individual’s Social Representing? A comment on Jaan Valsiner’s (2003) “Theory of Enablement”

Abstract

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.