SERIES: SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTIONS AND AUTHORS IN RELATIONAL CONSTRUCTIONISM-SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONISM Diego Tapia Figueroa, Ph.D. and Maritza Crespo Balderrama, M.A. September 4, 2020 https://iryse.org/serie-aportes-y-autores-significativos-en-el-socioconstruccionismo/ “Praxis gives meaning to words.”    (Ludwig Wittgenstein) Prologue This Monday, December 9, 2024, the TAOS INSTITUTE community is coming together to celebrate Kenneth Gergen’s 90th birthday. We have gathered a few brief but inspiring ideas that Gergen shared during a dialogue with Sheila McNamee, which some of us were fortunate to follow from a distance: A long and fulfilling life is supported by: Having people who love you. Maintaining a sense of humor. Nurturing curiosity about the extraordinary things in life. In social constructionism, creativity lies in continuously opening doors. We must ask ourselves: Where is the ethics of construction? It is essential to incorporate and legitimize what others—especially those who are different—have to say. It’s about connecting with what the dialogical relationship brings forth. “Being in conversation is a different way to approach differences and resolve conflicts.” — Sheila McNamee. The key is to keep asking questions. Relational research aims to address the gaps that relationships create. How can we make diverse traditions matter and use their resources to foster transformations and create a different social...

  Relational and Social Constructionist Consortium of Ecuador (IRYSE) Diego Tapia Figueroa, Ph.D. and Maritza Crespo Balderrama, M.A. The Meaning of Asking We converse through questions. The transformative dialogue called therapy relates to this capacity (creative power) to generate new questions -questions born of curiosity and respect- for the joint construction of new meanings. From trust in dialogue, the dialogic process, and relationships, we understand that we are what we create through what we say. To engage in dialogue, openness to otherness and diversity is essential. This ability to foster authentic dialogic processes mobilizes, through complexity, unprecedented resources that create meaningful connections. We act with the awareness that if we are intelligent beings, we will not choose to live foolishly. We will decide to be consistent, to stop postponing or capitulating, to assert ourselves as subjects of rights—rights that are not begged for but exercised. Reflective conversations and dialogues with genuine respect and authentic curiosity not only bring forth valuable, useful, and contributory learning but also engage us in bonds and connections. These bonds allow us to be with others and begin imagining ourselves as we would like—different, perhaps, but better. We increasingly realize that living means participating in a...

Relational and Social Constructionist Consortium of Ecuador (IRYSE) Diego Tapia Figueroa, Ph.D. and Maritza Crespo Balderrama, M.A. What perhaps was, what is — relatively — and what could be Relationships signify a process of connections that can last, in the imagination of each couple, a lifetime, a long cycle of time, a medium or short period, and sometimes just a moment. What prevents a long list of complaints, grievances, and endless resentments from forming? Is the list endless, unilateral, or shared? A list of what is not said, what weighs daily, made invisible, and silenced? What oppresses, and steals freedom and joy, happiness and future? All the complex details and issues inevitably mark this relationship as having an expiration date. Human relationships, particularly those between couples, are marked, more often than we’d like, by clichés, recurring trivialities, tiresome demands, and unfulfilled expectations. Well, yes, you can love intelligently and you can love foolishly; and, according to the criteria chosen to do so, it will be the project of the couple and life. Finding yourself involves choosing to see the other person as an interlocutor, a distinct individual who is accepted with respect and love. The full awareness that the relationship,...

  Social Constructionist Consortium of Ecuador (IRYSE) Maritza Crespo Balderrama, MA and Diego Tapia Figueroa, Ph.D.     Life cannot be understood without death. Although for many people, talking about it is unnecessary or taboo, the truth is that death accompanies us from the moment we see the light at birth—silently, invisibly, but constantly. Without a doubt, it is easier to talk (or think) about the death of older people because it is assumed that they have lived what they wanted or could, that time has passed for them, and that it is inevitable. However, when we face the death of a close person, especially if this person is young, death often feels like a slap in the face, something that invades us like a thick tide, making our finitude evident. In the Western world, where we are pressured to consume objects and experiences, death is rarely a topic of conversation (only when it appears among acquaintances or family), as if time and everyday uncertainty did not exist, as if, by not talking about it or not seeing it, it would not happen. However, when death comes, for whatever reason or circumstance, it is something that invades, at least for...