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Category
Social constructionism
Summary
In the fields of sociology, social ontology, and communication theory, social constructionism is a framework that proposes that certain ideas about physical reality arise from collaborative consensus, instead of the pure observation of said physical reality. The theory of social constructionism proposes that people collectively develop the meanings (denotations and connotations) of social constructs. Social constructionism has been characterised as a neo-Marxian theory and as a neo-Kantian theory, proposing that social constructionism replaces the transcendental subject with a societal concept that is descriptive and normative.
While some social constructs are obvious, for instance money or the concept of currency, in that people have agreed to give it importance/value, others are less obvious, such as the concept of self/self-identity. This articulates the view that people in society construct ideas or concepts that may not exist without the existence of people or language to validate those concepts, meaning without a society these constructs would cease to exist.
Many concepts have been posited to be social constructs including social norms, sense of self, gender, currency, language, beauty standards and beauty ideals, age, the modern calendar, race, ethnicity, social class and social hierarchy, nationality, family, marriage, religion, education, the measurement of time, citizenship, stereotypes, femininity and masculinity, social institutions, and disability.
These social constructs are not inherent or universal but are shaped and maintained through collective human interactions, cultural practices, and shared beliefs.
A social construct or construction is the meaning, notion, or connotation placed on an object or event by a society, and adopted by that society with respect to how they view or deal with the object or event.
Social constructionism posits that the meanings of phenomena do not have an independent foundation outside the mental and linguistic representation that people develop about them throughout their history, and which becomes their shared reality.
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