Social Relations in Human and Societal Development

Social interaction is part of human life and is the engine which drives an individual's psychological development, creating changes on all levels of society. Through a collection of essays by internationally renowned academics from a range of disciplines, including social psychology, international relations and child development, Social Relations in Human and Societal Development examines the effect of this integral force on human life. Each chapter explores the role of social relations in a particular domain to provide a broad understanding of the role of social relations in human and societal development.

Charis Psaltis is an Assistant Professor of Social and Developmental Psychology at the University of Cyprus. His research interests are Genetic Social Psychology, social interaction and cognitive development, social representations of gender, and intergroup contact and intergroup relations in Cyprus. He is a member of the editorial board of the British Journal of Developmental Psychology.

Alex Gillespie is an Associate Professor in Social Psychology at the London School of Economics, and Co-Editor of Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour. He studies social interaction, specifically how it produces novelty, distributes cognitive processes, creates our sense of self, and enables society to reproduce itself. He has published a monograph entitled Becoming Other: From Social Interaction to Self-Reflection, and is co-editor, with Ivana Marková, of a volume entitled Trust and Conflict: Representation, Culture and Dialogue.

Anne-Nelly Perret-Clermont is Professor in Psychology and Education at the University of Neuchâtel with a special interest in cultural and social psychology. Her research topics range from children's development to vocational education with a special concern for the "architecture" of the social spaces that offer opportunities to think and learn.

Editors' Preface
Notes on Contributors
1. Introduction: The Role of Social Relations in Human and Societal Development; Charis Psaltis, Alex Gillespie and Anne-Nelly-Perret-Clermont
PART I: SOCIAL RELATIONS IN COGNITIVE AND SOCIO-MORAL DEVELOPMENT: PIAGET AND BEYOND IN EDUCATION
2. Education for Democracy: Cooperation, Participation, and Civic Engagement in the Classroom; Wolfgang Edelstein
3. The Development of Intersubjectivity: Cognitive and Affective Aspects in Socio-Moral Reasoning; Monika Keller
4. The Architecture of Social Relationships and Thinking Spaces for Growth; Anne-Nelly Perret-Clermont
5. Genetic Social Psychology: From Microgenesis to Ontogenesis, Sociogenesis...and back; Charis Psaltis
PART II: SOCIAL RELATIONS AND CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION: INTERGROUP CONTACT AND REFLECTION
6. Non-transformative Social Interaction; Alex Gillespie
7. Conflict Transformation and Homo-diplomacy; Costas Constantinou
8. Social Relations and the Use of Symbolic Resources in Learning and Development; Tania Zittoun
PART III: SOCIAL RELATIONS THE ECONOMIC CULTURE AND FINANCIAL CRISIS: SOCIAL, CROSS-CULTURAL, AND CULTURAL PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES
9. The Role of Economic Culture in Social Relationships and Interdependence; Ayse Uskul
10. Social Simulations as a Tool for Understanding Individual, Cultural, and Societal Change; Deborah Downing Wilson and Michael Cole
11. Social Relations, the Financial Crisis and Human Development; Stefano Passini
12. The Importance of Social Relations for Human and Societal development; Charis Psaltis, Alex Gillespie and Anne-Nelly-Perret-Clermont