This book provides a groundbreaking examination of the interplay between culture and politics in Indigenous psychology, a field that challenges the perceived universality of Western psychological norms by emphasizing the cultural specificity of local communities. By assembling leading experts and innovative research from across five continents, the book addresses the under-theorized relationship between culture and politics, two central pillars of Indigenous psychology.
Contributors to this volume employ a cultural politics approach, an interdisciplinary lens that encourages critical inquiry into everyday practices and structural issues such as globalization, racial relations, and power dynamics. The book delves into the mechanisms of colonization, the ongoing tension between contextualists and globalists in psychological science, and the role of indigenous resistance in shaping future applications of Indigenous psychology. It concludes with a critical reflection on the achievements and limitations of the Indigenous psychology movement to date.
This volume is an essential resource for scholars and practitioners of Indigenous psychology, as well as those engaged in sociology, anthropology, political science, Marxism, and the philosophy of science. It invites readers to rethink the foundational elements of psychology through the lens of cultural and political dynamics.
Introduction: Cultural Politics in Indigenous Psychology.- Section I:
The Many Faces of Colonialism.- The Psychology and Politics of Colonial
Splitting: Moving from Division to Transformation.- Constructing an
Indigenous Psychology for the Political Minorities: Challenges and Resilience
of the Indigenous Troup and Migrant Domestic Workers in Asian Regions.-
Section II: Theoretical Reflections.- Indigenising Child Development Science:
Cultural Politics between Contextualists and Universalists.- The Conservative
Politics of Indigenous Psychology and Decolonial Psychology.- Critical
Indigenous Psychologies in India: Striving for Human Liberation.-
Sikolohiyang Pilipino: Vicissitudes of Indigenization in the Philippines.-
Section III: Indigenous Identities and Social Positions.- Cultural Politics,
Authenticity, and (Strategic) Essentialism: Exploring how Urban Mori Youth
Navigate Mori Identity.- What is a Black Indigenous Diasporic
Psychology?- Using Indigenous Cultural Resources to Negotiate Diasporic
Belonging: A Case Study of Chinese Roots-Related Metaphors.- Section IV:
Indigenous Resistance.- Indigenous Resurgence as Radical Healing among Native
Hawaiians.- Popular Power and Contra-Power Within Mexican Indigenous
Psychologies.- Unpacking Cultural Politics in Indigenous Psychology:
Sweetgrass Method to Mental Health Services among American Indian/Alaska
Natives.
Zed Zhipeng Gao is Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology, Health and Gender at The American University of Paris, France. Dr. Gaos research takes an interdisciplinary approach to exploring cultural identity, racial relations, communism, and transnationalism. He has guest edited two special issues of the journals Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science and Theory & Psychology, focusing on Indigenous psychology and deglobalization. His research has been recognized through awards in international psychology, the history of psychology, and qualitative inquiry.
Maria I. Medved is Professor of Psychology and Chair of the Department of Psychology, Health and Gender at The American University of Paris, France. Prior, she worked at the University of Manitoba, Canada. She is also a licensed psychologist. Her research deals with how, in various cultures, narratives of risk and resilience are told by individuals with health problems (neurological, physical, psychological). Much of her work involves Canadian First Nation communities.
