ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on how the theoretical issues can be translated into an applied programme of research and intervention in social psychology. It explores issues of participation, conscientisation and empowerment that derive from the reflexive understanding of local knowledges and their interrelations in public spheres. Recognising the diversity of knowledge and the coexistence of different knowledge systems in the same community raises questions about how different knowledges compare and what happens when they meet in public spheres. The commitment with the expressiveness of everyday knowledges and the concomitant need to listen carefully to what they reveal has always been central to this tradition of research. Knowledge without representation is a dream, and a legitimate and understandable one for that matter. Research on social representations has clearly demonstrated just how problematic it is to ignore the expressiveness and epistemological status of local knowledges.
