Social Construction as Process: Some New Possibilities for Research and Development

Here we outline one variant of social constructionism — one that emphasizes social ontologies as constructed in ongoing co-ordination processes. We stress that these may be constructed in relations between written and spoken words, non-verbal actions, artefacts, and objects 'in nature'. Relational processes often construct persons and worlds in either/or relations, but 'both/and' is also possible. We explore some 'new' both/and possibilities in various areas of practice showing, for example, that research can be viewed as construction and that it does not have to strive to enact the standard view of science. Instead, it might construct inclusive, multilogical, and heterarchical relations, constructing 'power to' go on in new ways. While social constructionist arguments do not demand any particular methods or relations, we suggest that there are good reasons why approaches of the sort described might be of value, might be more ecological, in today's fast', postcolonial, multi-cultural worlds.