Theory in practice and practice in theory

Abstract

The paper lays out my work on the development of theory and practice and the connections between them based on the approach of critical psychology. It addresses the following three questions: What do we need in order to become able to combine theory and practice? How can we develop critique in practice? And which requirements does this raise at the de- velopment of theory? It is argued that, in order to accomplish this, we need more adequate and sufficient concepts about practice than ordinarily seen. Psychological theory must thus be grounded more adequately and sufficiently in the practice of subjects in social structures of practice. This is also necessary in order to grasp subjects and their problems as well as the professional work of psychologists and its mode of working. The particular task of psychology in studying individual subjects also demands particular accentuations and extensi- ons of a theory of social practice. In order to become able to guide concrete critical practices, a critical psychology of subjects must thus become a psychology of the concrete. All this calls for a methodology which is able to comprehend dynamic nexuses rather than one which researches single factors and properties isolated from everything else. In this article, all these topics are treated in the course of presenting the development of my work as a university researcher and researcher of practices for approximately fifty years which was marked by varied, close connections between work on theory and in practice. The topics are reconsi- dered from the point of view I have reached today. The article is, therefore, of a particular genre: It focuses on the development of the work of a researcher/practitioner. Other ideas and other research are only included in as far as they accentuate problems in adopting a particular point of view and the arguments for overcoming it in the development of my work.