Critical Websites of Interest

The Radical Psychology Network (RadPsych)

The Radical Psychology Network seeks like-minded psychologists and others to help create a society better able to meet human needs and bring about social justice. We want to change society’s unacceptable status quo and bring about a better world. And we want to change the status quo of psychology, too. We challenge psychology’s traditional focus on minor reform, because enhancing human welfare demands fundamental social change instead. Moreover, psychology itself has too often oppressed people rather than liberated them.

Psychology in Society

PINS (Psychology in society) is a peer-reviewed journal that was formed in September 1983 as vehicle for a critical and anti-apartheid stance in psychology. PINS continues to foster a socio-historical and critical theory perspective by focusing on the theory and practice of psychology in the southern African context.

Discourse Unit

The Discourse Unit was founded in 1990 by Erica Burman and Ian Parker, and operates as a trans-institutional collaborative centre which supports a variety of qualitative and theoretical research projects contributing to the development of radical theory and practice. The term ‘discourse’ is used primarily in critical hermeneutic and structuralist senses to include inquiries influenced by feminism and psychoanalysis. The centre functions: (i) as a teaching resource base for qualitative and feminist work; (ii) as a support unit for the (re)production of radical academic theory; (iii) as a networking centre for the development of critical perspectives in action research.

The International Society for Theoretical Psychology

The International Society for Theoretical Psychology (ISTP) is an international forum for theoretical, meta-theoretical and philosophical discussions in psychology, with a focus on contemporary psychological debates. Its objective is to stimulate theoretical arguments and innovations, to foster integration across areas and traditions of research, and to promote interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches to psychological questions. It aims to serve as the stage for the discussion of new theoretical ideas and conceptual frameworks, for the critical engagement of different theoretical approaches, and for discussions concerning the relation of theoretical psychology to other disciplines, to the history of psychology and to the philosophy of knowledge. The interests of the ISTP span sub-areas of psychology. It has members whose primary interests pertain to cognitive, social, feminist, postcolonial, developmental, clinical, perceptual, biological and evolutionary psychology.

The Society for Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology

This is Division 24 of the American Psychological Association is Theory and Philosophy. This division is very eclectic, with members from many specialty areas of interest. The common interest among this diverse group is the philosophy of psychology and the social sciences, as well as the social foundations of psychology.

The Society for Social Studies of Science (4S) is a nonprofit, professional association. It was founded in 1975 and now has an international membership of over 1200. The main purpose of 4S is to bring together those interested in understanding science, technology, and medicine, including the way they develop and interact with their social contexts.

The Society for Philosophy and Psychology

The Society for Philosophy and Psychology is the premier scientific and educational organization for philosophically interested psychologists and psychologically interested philosophers in North America. The purpose of the SPP is to promote interaction between philosophers, psychologists and other cognitive scientists on issues of common concern.

Cheiron: The International Society for the History of the Behavioral and Social Sciences, named after the wise centaur of Greek myth, was formed to promote the international cooperation and multidisciplinary studies in the history of behavioral and social sciences.

The BPS Qualitative Methods in Psychology Section

The Qualitative Methods in Psychology Section (QMiP) of the British Psychological Society provides a forum to exchange ideas and promote research into the use of qualitative methods in psychology.

The BPS Psychology of Women and Equalities Section

The Psychology of Women and Equalities Section of the British Psychological Society (POWES) works within the BPS to highlight issues of gender and inequality in academic and applied psychology in order to positively influence policy and practice.

The Society for Qualitative Inquiry in Psychology

The Society for Qualitative Inquiry in Psychology (SQIP) is a section of Division 5 of the American Psychological Association. The society promotes qualitative research and aims to:

serve as a forum for enriching and reflecting on forms and applications of qualitative studies in psychology.
provide researchers and practitioners opportunities to share developments across a wide array of theories and methods (e.g., narrative, discourse, life history, phenomenology, ethnography, case studies, focus groups, visual representation, performance, action research).
stimulate deliberation on the methodological, theoretical, and philosophical status of such forms of inquiry.
invigorate innovations in qualitative inquiry.
promote the teaching and learning of qualitative inquiry.
encourage and facilitate the exchange of information with other disciplines engaging in qualitative inquiry.

APA Society for the Psychology of Women

Division 35: Society for the Psychology of Women provides an organizational base for all feminists, of all genders and of all national origins, who are interested in teaching, research, or practice in the psychology of womxn. To demonstrate our commitment to inclusivity of feminists of diverse genders, the presidential trio have chosen to describe the division’s purposes and activities using the term “womxn.” The division recognizes a diversity of womxn’s experiences which result from a variety of factors, including ethnicity, culture, language, socioeconomic status, age, and sexual orientation. The division promotes feminist research, theories, education, and practice toward understanding and improving the lives of girls and womxn in all their diversities; encourages scholarship on the social construction of gender relations across multicultural contexts; applies its scholarship to transforming the knowledge base of psychology; advocates action toward public policies that advance equality and social justice; and seeks to empower womxn in community, national and global leadership. We welcome student members and affiliates. Members are provided two publications: Psychology of Women Quarterly, which is a journal of research, theory and reviews, and the Feminist Psychologist.

Community Psychology UK

Bringing Society to Psychology. The British Psychological Society’s millenium slogan was Bringing Psychology to Society. For us the need is often the reverse – to bring an adequate understanding of society to the discipline of psychology, so that it can contribute to the struggle for social justice. A psychology that is informed by an understanding of society could make sound contributions to that society. Unfortuately much of the dominant psychology in the english speaking world is profoundly agnostic about the society in which it is situated.

Psychologists Against Austerity

Psychologists Against Austerity is an ongoing campaign highlighting the costs to mental health of austerity policies. This focusses both on the breadth and depth of cuts to public services and the austerity narrative which has been used to justify these cuts. As applied psychologists in the UK we believe it is our public and professional duty to be speaking out against the further implementation of austerity policies. From professional experience and our knowledge of empirical psychological evidence, we know that cuts have been toxic for people’s wellbeing and mental health. Recent scientific evidence continues to demonstrate links between austerity policies and the nation’s worsening mental health and increasing mental health inequalities. Responding to this, this campaign aims to mobilise psychologists and psychological knowledge to make a case against further austerity policies.

Centre for Critical Public Health

The Center for Critical Public Health is a research group committed to shifting the rules of engagement in public health. Our research centers the multiple experiences, values, and beliefs of people whose voices are often left at the margins. We analyze the extent to which public health practice and policy-making are aligned with the everyday lives of people who experience health inequities. We highlight the public(s) in public health.

Dennis Fox’s critical psychology website

The term critical psychology refers to a variety of approaches that challenge mainstream psychology’s assumptions and practices that help sustain unjust political, economic, and other societal structures.

Psychologists for Social Responsibility is an engaged community of members and supporters who work to advance peace and social justice through the ethical use of psychological knowledge, research, and practice. Representing a variety of cultural and disciplinary perspectives, we recognize diversity as a valuable resource in our efforts to address economic, racial, and gender-based injustices and other forms of oppression. We believe that peace with justice in an environmentally sustainable world depends upon a commitment to global well-being, universal human rights, mutual understanding, and collaborative partnerships in the pursuit of change.

International Society of Qualitative Research in Sport and Exercise (QRSE)

The International Society of Qualitative Research in Sport and Exercise (QRSE) is an organization devoted to promoting and advancing qualitative research in the sport and exercise sciences. It is the first organization explicitly concerned with qualitative research across the sport and exercise sciences.

International Society of Critical Health Psychology

a global community of members interested in critical health psychology