Essay Plan 4

I completed the last of the four essay plans and have now finished the coursework side of the course. However, the themes that run throughout will still be discussed in our learning set.

Essay 4 looked at political action, power and the 'common sense' notions. Tina wished us to look at how social constructionsists contend these ideas and how it could help in the workplace.

A considerable amount of content could be included within this.

First, I looked at discourses as Burr (2007) explains that all interactions with the world, be it conversations, meanings, representations, construct a persons truth.

She believes that the 'common sense' notions are made when a majority of people believe in a particular discourse.

The 'common sense'/ conventional view of power is that it is the powerful person who holds a characteristic within them that makes them powerful. Social Constructionsists would argue this could not be possible as there is no evidence to suggest a 'personality' exists.

Looking at power, Gergen believes there are 2 types; power over and power to. Conventional arguments would suggest that people and institutions have power over people.

However Michael Foucault suggests that the people who have the power to communicate discourses have the power to change them. He rejects the idea of power over.

Political action could be seen as 'the power to bring about change', it challenges the taken-for-granted 'truths' that people accept about the world or within the workplace.

The learning set group will be discussing some of these themes at a later date.