Wahbie Long | University of Cape Town (original) (raw)
Books by Wahbie Long
This book represents the first attempt to historicise and theorise appeals for ‘relevance’ in psy... more This book represents the first attempt to historicise and theorise appeals for ‘relevance’ in psychology. It argues that the persistence of questions about the ‘relevance’ of psychology derives from the discipline’s terminal inability to define its subject matter, its reliance on a socially disinterested science to underwrite its knowledge claims, and its consequent failure to address itself to the needs of a rapidly changing world.
The chapters go on to consider the ‘relevance’ debate within South African psychology, by critically analysing discourse of forty-five presidential, keynote and opening addresses delivered at annual national psychology congresses between 1950 and 2011, and observes how appeals for ‘relevance’ were advanced by reactionary, progressive and radical psychologists alike.
The book presents, moreover, the provocative thesis that the revolutionary quest for ‘social relevance’ that began in the 1960s has been supplanted by an ethic of ‘market relevance’ that threatens to isolate the discipline still further from the anxieties of broader society. With powerful interest groups continuing to co-opt psychologists without relent, this is a development that only psychologists of conscience can arrest.
Papers by Wahbie Long
Revelation and Science
This paper explores three issues: first, the historical factors that contributed to calls for the... more This paper explores three issues: first, the historical factors that contributed to calls for the Islamicisation of psychology; second, the forms that articulations of Islamic psychology have subsequently taken; and third, the difficulties inherent in attempts to Islamicise the discipline. It begins with the observation that, from the 1960s onwards, the international academy became mired in debates about social 'relevance'. In psychology, the antiestablishment posturing exhibited itself in American and European debates about 'relevance', while, in the hinterlands of the psychological fraternity, troubling questions were posed regarding the Third World applicability of an intellectual package imported wholesale from the disciplinary centre. It was in response to these concerns of developing nations that efforts to 'indigenise' psychology began. Among Muslim thinkers, it was argued that psychologists had regurgitated Western psychological theories and practices that were unsuitable for Muslim populations. As a result, attempts at fashioning an authentic Islamic psychology gathered pace, assuming, typically, one of two forms: a critical revision of Western psychology (with accompanying analyses of relevant Qur'anic passages) or an elaboration of the classical Islamic tradition. A quandary arises, however, as to the feasibility of transforming an originally Western discipline whose questions, topics and methods were forged in the maelstrom of specific social contingencies. The fact that the birth of modern psychology was closely related to the rise of a liberal-capitalist hegemony is an important consideration in the search for an Islamic psychology. Moreover, the homogenisation of world culture necessitates critical reflection on the very desirability of Islamicising the discipline.
Transformation: Critical Perspectives on Southern Africa
Hating, Abhorring and Wishing to Destroy
South African Journal of Science
Black-and not offended Universities, a leading South African academic once noted, are places of d... more Black-and not offended Universities, a leading South African academic once noted, are places of discomfort, testing boundaries, posing uncomfortable questions, challenging received truths. It is only natural that some will feel offended, occasionally, by the questions intellectuals ask. It is not that academic etiquette and basic ethical standards have been dispensed with in the formulation of such questions-only that questions, as interpretive acts in themselves, are bound to ruffle feathers. But when a question does cause upset, this does not relieve academics of the duty to respond on the basis of factual and rational analysis. Unfortunately, some of the responses to the recent commentary published by Nicoli Nattrass 1 fall short in this regard.
Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology
Theory & Psychology
This article examines the attempts of psychologists in South Africa to "Africanize" the disciplin... more This article examines the attempts of psychologists in South Africa to "Africanize" the discipline. Beginning with a brief history of psychology on the continent, it contextualizes the call for an African psychology by outlining the state of the broader discipline in post-apartheid South Africa as well as the emergence of Afrocentric psychology in the United States. The article interrogates further the notion of an "African worldview" and suggests that Afrocentric psychologists remain beholden to Eurocentric audiences-the result of their continued marginalization by a Eurocentric discipline. Drawing on Fanon's image of a Manichean psychology, the paper argues that African psychology-instead of organizing itself around cultural questions-must commit itself to a psychological analysis of the violence that exemplifies life in South Africa.
Psychology in Society
The recent debates about the transformation, or decolonization, of higher education in South Afri... more The recent debates about the transformation, or decolonization, of higher education in South Africa have underscored the continuing salience of "identity" in post-apartheid political discourse. Disillusioned with the token equality of liberal politics, student-led movements now demand that their manifestos be granted legitimacy precisely on particularistic grounds. With the aim of understanding what conception of social change these demands entail, this archival study analyzes how political identity and agency have been constructed in contemporary South African academic discourse. More specifically, this study identifies the different kinds of ontological and epistemological presuppositions that particular uses of language are necessarily committed to, and therefore necessarily limited by (both politically and conceptually). Utilizing Scopus, a bibliographic database, the five most relevant and highly cited articles were selected and subsequently analyzed using the logical rules governing both predicate ascription and presupposition. Two main uses of language were isolated based on common sets of presuppositions: 1) A non-human ontology of agents, and 2) Agency as a property of antecedently given identities. Each use of language was found to comprise two further subcategories respectively: 1.1) Psychological agencies, 1.2) External agencies; and 2.1) Realist view of political identity, 2.2) Constructivist view of political identity. The results of the data analysis suggest that the two main uses of language are mutually reinforcing. Taken together, they appear to entail an account of social change that, via the linguistic obfuscation and reification of human agency, is in
History of psychology, Aug 1, 2016
Shortly before the end of apartheid rule in South Africa, Kurt Danziger (1994) asked whether the ... more Shortly before the end of apartheid rule in South Africa, Kurt Danziger (1994) asked whether the history of psychology had a future. In the 21 years that have since elapsed, the question retains its original significance. In this article, the state of the field in postapartheid South Africa is examined. Several key trends are identified, including a declining historical consciousness and a revival of Whig historiography. It is argued that the resulting lack of a critical history of postapartheid psychology is in keeping with the unassailability of the equivalent period in official state discourse. In view of an emerging consensus that the country is on the brink of another political watershed, it is suggested that the revival of the field may yet be possible. This will require a turn to histories of the present with a focus on the growing problem of co-option. (PsycINFO Database Record
Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, 2015
A History of “Relevance” in Psychology, 2016
A History of “Relevance” in Psychology, 2016
A History of “Relevance” in Psychology, 2016
A History of “Relevance” in Psychology, 2016
A History of “Relevance” in Psychology, 2016
Oxford Encyclopedia of the History of Psychology, 2020
Psychology's phenomenal growth in the twentieth century stemmed in part from the alliances it for... more Psychology's phenomenal growth in the twentieth century stemmed in part from the alliances it formed with powerful bureaucratic elites. The discipline's proximity to power, however, meant not only that it could be co-opted ideologically but also that it could collude with oppressive regimes to enhance its own prestige. Project CAMELOT is one example where psychologists were willing to cooperate with the United States military in the service of a foreign policy that terrorized Latin America. The discipline also thrived under the Nazis with psychologists heavily involved in meeting the operational needs of the Wehrmacht. Afrikaner psychologists in South Africa formed a close association with the apartheid state in both ideological and practical terms. More recently, the involvement of the American Psychological Association in a torture scandal has drawn attention once again to the discipline's potential for collusion with institutional powers. In historiographic terms, some will take issue with the delivery of moral judgments when documenting the history of Psychology. However, the writing of history does not preclude such judgments, especially at a time when the exercise of power permeates disciplinary, institutional, and social life.
Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, 2019
In this article, I examine the three guiding principles of the indigenous psychology movement: on... more In this article, I examine the three guiding principles of the indigenous psychology movement: ontological relativism, epistemological relativism, and the insider perspective. Using African psychology and Islamic psychology as case examples, I contend that these principles—along with the continued neglect of the question of disciplinarity—prevent the establishment of indigenous psychology as a coherent field of inquiry. I submit further that the local– global polarity is a nonissue and that a focus on materiality rather than culture can form the basis for a more viable indigenous psychology.
Psycho-analytic Psychotherapy in South Africa, 2017
This paper contributes to the current debate about decolonisation by rethinking the theoretical b... more This paper contributes to the current debate about decolonisation by rethinking the theoretical base of psychotherapy. It offers, first, a reformulation of the problem of human suffering that draws on the concept of alienation as detailed in the works of Karl Marx, Frantz Fanon, and Erich Fromm. Second, it presents an alternative reading of Wulf Sachs' psychoanalytic text, Black Hamlet, as viewed through the prism of alienation theory. And third, while affirming the significance of that classic work for psychotherapists today as well as the salience of alienation theory, the paper raises complex questions about the integration of Marxism and psychoanalysis.
This book represents the first attempt to historicise and theorise appeals for ‘relevance’ in psy... more This book represents the first attempt to historicise and theorise appeals for ‘relevance’ in psychology. It argues that the persistence of questions about the ‘relevance’ of psychology derives from the discipline’s terminal inability to define its subject matter, its reliance on a socially disinterested science to underwrite its knowledge claims, and its consequent failure to address itself to the needs of a rapidly changing world.
The chapters go on to consider the ‘relevance’ debate within South African psychology, by critically analysing discourse of forty-five presidential, keynote and opening addresses delivered at annual national psychology congresses between 1950 and 2011, and observes how appeals for ‘relevance’ were advanced by reactionary, progressive and radical psychologists alike.
The book presents, moreover, the provocative thesis that the revolutionary quest for ‘social relevance’ that began in the 1960s has been supplanted by an ethic of ‘market relevance’ that threatens to isolate the discipline still further from the anxieties of broader society. With powerful interest groups continuing to co-opt psychologists without relent, this is a development that only psychologists of conscience can arrest.
Revelation and Science
This paper explores three issues: first, the historical factors that contributed to calls for the... more This paper explores three issues: first, the historical factors that contributed to calls for the Islamicisation of psychology; second, the forms that articulations of Islamic psychology have subsequently taken; and third, the difficulties inherent in attempts to Islamicise the discipline. It begins with the observation that, from the 1960s onwards, the international academy became mired in debates about social 'relevance'. In psychology, the antiestablishment posturing exhibited itself in American and European debates about 'relevance', while, in the hinterlands of the psychological fraternity, troubling questions were posed regarding the Third World applicability of an intellectual package imported wholesale from the disciplinary centre. It was in response to these concerns of developing nations that efforts to 'indigenise' psychology began. Among Muslim thinkers, it was argued that psychologists had regurgitated Western psychological theories and practices that were unsuitable for Muslim populations. As a result, attempts at fashioning an authentic Islamic psychology gathered pace, assuming, typically, one of two forms: a critical revision of Western psychology (with accompanying analyses of relevant Qur'anic passages) or an elaboration of the classical Islamic tradition. A quandary arises, however, as to the feasibility of transforming an originally Western discipline whose questions, topics and methods were forged in the maelstrom of specific social contingencies. The fact that the birth of modern psychology was closely related to the rise of a liberal-capitalist hegemony is an important consideration in the search for an Islamic psychology. Moreover, the homogenisation of world culture necessitates critical reflection on the very desirability of Islamicising the discipline.
Transformation: Critical Perspectives on Southern Africa
Hating, Abhorring and Wishing to Destroy
South African Journal of Science
Black-and not offended Universities, a leading South African academic once noted, are places of d... more Black-and not offended Universities, a leading South African academic once noted, are places of discomfort, testing boundaries, posing uncomfortable questions, challenging received truths. It is only natural that some will feel offended, occasionally, by the questions intellectuals ask. It is not that academic etiquette and basic ethical standards have been dispensed with in the formulation of such questions-only that questions, as interpretive acts in themselves, are bound to ruffle feathers. But when a question does cause upset, this does not relieve academics of the duty to respond on the basis of factual and rational analysis. Unfortunately, some of the responses to the recent commentary published by Nicoli Nattrass 1 fall short in this regard.
Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology
Theory & Psychology
This article examines the attempts of psychologists in South Africa to "Africanize" the disciplin... more This article examines the attempts of psychologists in South Africa to "Africanize" the discipline. Beginning with a brief history of psychology on the continent, it contextualizes the call for an African psychology by outlining the state of the broader discipline in post-apartheid South Africa as well as the emergence of Afrocentric psychology in the United States. The article interrogates further the notion of an "African worldview" and suggests that Afrocentric psychologists remain beholden to Eurocentric audiences-the result of their continued marginalization by a Eurocentric discipline. Drawing on Fanon's image of a Manichean psychology, the paper argues that African psychology-instead of organizing itself around cultural questions-must commit itself to a psychological analysis of the violence that exemplifies life in South Africa.
Psychology in Society
The recent debates about the transformation, or decolonization, of higher education in South Afri... more The recent debates about the transformation, or decolonization, of higher education in South Africa have underscored the continuing salience of "identity" in post-apartheid political discourse. Disillusioned with the token equality of liberal politics, student-led movements now demand that their manifestos be granted legitimacy precisely on particularistic grounds. With the aim of understanding what conception of social change these demands entail, this archival study analyzes how political identity and agency have been constructed in contemporary South African academic discourse. More specifically, this study identifies the different kinds of ontological and epistemological presuppositions that particular uses of language are necessarily committed to, and therefore necessarily limited by (both politically and conceptually). Utilizing Scopus, a bibliographic database, the five most relevant and highly cited articles were selected and subsequently analyzed using the logical rules governing both predicate ascription and presupposition. Two main uses of language were isolated based on common sets of presuppositions: 1) A non-human ontology of agents, and 2) Agency as a property of antecedently given identities. Each use of language was found to comprise two further subcategories respectively: 1.1) Psychological agencies, 1.2) External agencies; and 2.1) Realist view of political identity, 2.2) Constructivist view of political identity. The results of the data analysis suggest that the two main uses of language are mutually reinforcing. Taken together, they appear to entail an account of social change that, via the linguistic obfuscation and reification of human agency, is in
History of psychology, Aug 1, 2016
Shortly before the end of apartheid rule in South Africa, Kurt Danziger (1994) asked whether the ... more Shortly before the end of apartheid rule in South Africa, Kurt Danziger (1994) asked whether the history of psychology had a future. In the 21 years that have since elapsed, the question retains its original significance. In this article, the state of the field in postapartheid South Africa is examined. Several key trends are identified, including a declining historical consciousness and a revival of Whig historiography. It is argued that the resulting lack of a critical history of postapartheid psychology is in keeping with the unassailability of the equivalent period in official state discourse. In view of an emerging consensus that the country is on the brink of another political watershed, it is suggested that the revival of the field may yet be possible. This will require a turn to histories of the present with a focus on the growing problem of co-option. (PsycINFO Database Record
Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, 2015
A History of “Relevance” in Psychology, 2016
A History of “Relevance” in Psychology, 2016
A History of “Relevance” in Psychology, 2016
A History of “Relevance” in Psychology, 2016
A History of “Relevance” in Psychology, 2016
Oxford Encyclopedia of the History of Psychology, 2020
Psychology's phenomenal growth in the twentieth century stemmed in part from the alliances it for... more Psychology's phenomenal growth in the twentieth century stemmed in part from the alliances it formed with powerful bureaucratic elites. The discipline's proximity to power, however, meant not only that it could be co-opted ideologically but also that it could collude with oppressive regimes to enhance its own prestige. Project CAMELOT is one example where psychologists were willing to cooperate with the United States military in the service of a foreign policy that terrorized Latin America. The discipline also thrived under the Nazis with psychologists heavily involved in meeting the operational needs of the Wehrmacht. Afrikaner psychologists in South Africa formed a close association with the apartheid state in both ideological and practical terms. More recently, the involvement of the American Psychological Association in a torture scandal has drawn attention once again to the discipline's potential for collusion with institutional powers. In historiographic terms, some will take issue with the delivery of moral judgments when documenting the history of Psychology. However, the writing of history does not preclude such judgments, especially at a time when the exercise of power permeates disciplinary, institutional, and social life.
Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, 2019
In this article, I examine the three guiding principles of the indigenous psychology movement: on... more In this article, I examine the three guiding principles of the indigenous psychology movement: ontological relativism, epistemological relativism, and the insider perspective. Using African psychology and Islamic psychology as case examples, I contend that these principles—along with the continued neglect of the question of disciplinarity—prevent the establishment of indigenous psychology as a coherent field of inquiry. I submit further that the local– global polarity is a nonissue and that a focus on materiality rather than culture can form the basis for a more viable indigenous psychology.
Psycho-analytic Psychotherapy in South Africa, 2017
This paper contributes to the current debate about decolonisation by rethinking the theoretical b... more This paper contributes to the current debate about decolonisation by rethinking the theoretical base of psychotherapy. It offers, first, a reformulation of the problem of human suffering that draws on the concept of alienation as detailed in the works of Karl Marx, Frantz Fanon, and Erich Fromm. Second, it presents an alternative reading of Wulf Sachs' psychoanalytic text, Black Hamlet, as viewed through the prism of alienation theory. And third, while affirming the significance of that classic work for psychotherapists today as well as the salience of alienation theory, the paper raises complex questions about the integration of Marxism and psychoanalysis.
New Agenda, 2018
In the following reflections on the decolonization of higher education, I have three objectives. ... more In the following reflections on the decolonization of higher education, I have three objectives. First, I intend to analyze decolonization discourse both theoretically and experientially. I do so partly on account of what I would call its viscerality but also because lived experience is an essential category of analysis in postcolonial theory. Drawing on theoretical resources as well as several encounters with proponents of decolonization, I argue that the politics of the decolonization movement is in some respects deeply conservative – hence the mischievous titular reference to an ‘invisible hand’ directing student politics today. Second – and because of this conservatism – I assert with reference to the discipline of psychology that its proposed decolonization is clearly an ideological venture. But I also suggest that our obsession with decolonization discourse is to some extent unavoidable, involving what psychotherapists would call a repetition compulsion that cannot be relinquished until the original trauma of apartheid has been mastered. And third, I draw on Marxist literary theory to problematize the disciplinary order itself, in so doing drawing attention to a paradox that lies at the heart of the decolonizing project.
Psychodynamic Practice, 2019
Sally Swartz’s Ruthless Winnicott is an ambitious work, drawing on her expertise in psychoanalyti... more Sally Swartz’s Ruthless Winnicott is an ambitious work, drawing on her expertise in psychoanalytic psychotherapy in order to understand the decolonizing impulse in South African institutions of higher education today. With all the complexity implicit in attempts at bridging individual and social levels of analysis, the grandness of the project is clear from the outset. Swartz divides the book into two sections: the first illustrates the workings of key Winnicottian staples in the psychoanalytic encounter—in particular, the concept of ruthlessness (and its counterpart ‘ruth’) as well as the movement from object relating towards object usage. Then, having demonstrated their analytic utility, she applies these resources in the second half of the book to her reading of student protest encounters.
