~Britta Wigginton ([email protected])
The field of critical psychology can seem overwhelming.
I speak from personal experience. I completed my PhD in a department that was entirely positivist (‘scientific’), with the exception of my supervisor who encouraged me, despite being in the first month of my PhD, to attend the 2011 ISCHP conference in Adelaide. For me, critical psychology has been as much a professional as it has a personal (re)education into the world.
Something I struggle with is feeling like I’m not a ‘good enough’ critical researcher. I am constantly amazed and taught by amazing friends and peers that just seem to get what it means to be critical – they can integrate neoliberal or constructionist theory effortlessly and seamlessly into a conversation. I do okay if I’m in the ‘academic brain space’, but when it comes to casually referencing critical psychology in my day-to-day life, I find it a struggle. It usually goes something like this:
Me: (Sarcastically) Well, better get that cancer screening done so you can continue being a good neoliberal citizen.
Other: Why is that neoliberalism and not just plain sensible? I think you’re being a bit dramatic here.
Me: Uh, because if you don’t get the screening, you can be constructed as being to blame if you get cancer…I think…
Convincing, right? And that’s just within the health sphere.
Image: Imgur
