From the manifestations of culture to the underlying sensemaking process. The contribution of semiotic cultural psychology theory to the interpretation of socio‐political scenario

Bibliographic Data

ID8975841
AuthorsFederico Russo (0000-0002-0052-6796, Department of History,Society and Human Studies Università del Salento Italy), T Mannarini (0000-0003-3683-8035, Department of History,Society and Human Studies Università del Salento Italy), Salvatore (0000-0002-4583-8478, Sapienza University of Rome, corresponding author), Sergio Salvatore (Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology University of Rome La Sapienza Italy)
Year2020
Volume50
Issue3
Pages301-320
Publication date2020-01-26
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal for the Theory of Social Behaviour (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0021-8308 • E-ISSN: 1468-5914
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/jtsb.12235
OpenAlexW3001848500
LanguageEN
Citations received12
References cited55

Several explanations of the current syndrome affecting advanced democracies make reference to a process of cultural change that has been triggered by the complex and interrelated phenomena known as globalization. The rise of populist‐authoritarian parties, the advent of post‐truth politics and the increasing dissatisfaction with democracy are seen by many political scientists as rather direct consequences of social and economic transformations which had changed the context in which the democratic process takes place. The main limitation of this literature is that it treats culture as a black box receiving inputs from the social context and translate them into political consequences. By doing so it cannot explain why the same conditions produce different consequences in different contexts and it is silent on the criteria to develop anti‐crisis policies. This article argues that some of the insights offered by the Semiotic Cultural Psychology Theory, most notably the idea that cultural evolution is moved by the need to find affect‐laden, simplified interpretations of the reality to restore the capacity of making sense on an uncertain socio‐political context, can enhance the ability of political scientists to understand the current political phenomena and to develop methodological criteria to counteract the current scenario of democratic crisis

Authoritarianism · Context (archaeology · Democracy · Economics · Epistemology · Interpretation (philosophy · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Public relations · Semiotics · Sensemaking · Social science · Sociology · Cultural Differences and Values · Law · Social and Cultural Dynamics · Social Representations and Identity