ABSTRACT
Knoblauch addresses the formation of a new approach that has come to be called “communicative constructivism.” Because the theory of social construction is the central starting point of this approach, he first provides a summary of its major theses. As the sketch of the reception of The Social Construction of Reality in the second part of his contribution shows, it shaped the concept of social construction internationally and became the point of reference for some subsequent academic movements, which he briefly discusses. As Berger and Luckmann discontinued their work on the theory of social construction after only a few years, these movements also contributed to its theoretical refinement, linking it to theories that emerged later, such as the post-structuralist theories of discourse, practice and subjectivity. In order to be able to follow these innovations, Knoblauch outlines the variety of notions of “constructivisms” linked to these theories. However, due to its dissemination, the concept of social construction lost its distinctness. In particular, authors who knew the book more from hearsay than from reading it (which seems to be common, even among some renowned researchers) contributed to serious misunderstandings of “social constructivism” and deviations from what Berger and Luckmann had written. This confusion led logically to a number of misleading criticisms of “social constructivism.” There are also a number of serious criticisms of Berger and Luckmann’s approach, for example, the problems of a subjectivistic justification of social theory. Taking up this criticism, Knoblauch develops the theory of “social construction” further into a relational theory that does not bracket out the subject but rather treats processes of consciousness as part of a relational process. This process can by no means be reduced to language but includes objectification and physical activity. Social action must, therefore, always be seen as communicative action. In order to account for these basic modifications, Knoblauch prefers to talk of “communicative” rather than “social” construction. He concludes by stressing that the reformulation “communicative constructivism” is intended to avoid confusion with the multiple use of “social construction,” and that it facilitates the analysis of the dramatic changes in contemporary society.
