ABSTRACT
This chapter emphasizes the concepts of individual and social subjectivity, and highlights their contributions for the understanding of individual and institutional processes. It focuses on the theoretical contribution of the theory of subjectivity, as it has been developed by Gonzalez Rey within a cultural-historical perspective, for simultaneously advancing research and professional practices in mental health care. As Gonzalez Rey pointed out, the topic of subjectivity is implicit in different philosophical positions, such as in Phenomenology, Pragmatism and Marxism. Social subjectivity articulates subjective senses, which, being produced in different spheres of social life, are present in different ways in any group or social organization at the precise moment of its functioning. Understanding the contribution of the theory of subjectivity requires an explanation of its epistemological and methodological grounds. Social subjectivity operates by configuring different forms of institutionalization. Every social space functions through different forms of institutionalization and through mechanisms of blocking certain expressions of individual subjectivity.
