Some Recent and Future Developments in the Study of Social Representations

Social representation theory studies social knowledge created by groups which becomes objectified, as if it existed outside of social processes. In this paper, some new themes and directions for social representation research are discussed. Overall, it is suggested that more emphasis be placed back onto the group dynamics which create, change and maintain social representations. Too much emphasis, perhaps, has been put on finding and describing the objectified knowledges rather than the social processes which sustain them. In particular, more needs to be known about the groups themselves which create and maintain social representations, and the conditions for such groups' existence. The methods for research need to reflect the social processes over time and anthropological methods of research might help in this regard. It is then argued both that social relations are a prerequisite for social representations and that social representations can be utilized by groups for various functions. Both these points emphasize that social representations exist through, and are maintained by, group dynamics, which need to be studied in addition to descriptions of the content of social representations.