German Critical Psychology

Johanna L. Degen and Ernst Schraube

Chapter 4 in Handbook of Critical Work and Organizational Psychology, 2026, pp 61-75 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter describes the formation of Critical Psychology, focusing on its German origins within the context of contemporary work and organizational psychology. German Critical Psychology challenges positivist methodologies and emphasizes the need for social relevance, contextualization, responsibility, and justice in psychological research and practice. It proposes the systematic integration of human subjectivity and societal conditions, including technology, as well as a subject- and world-centered epistemology to investigate people's everyday concerns, challenges, and conflicts. Work and organization are central to Critical Psychology, not least because the societal world is shaped by human work, which in turn shapes human subjectivity, agency, and the way people live their everyday lives. The chapter explains how Critical Psychology can contribute to an integrative, participatory, and reflexive approach to the psychology of work and organization that can promote dignity, sustainability, and justice, thereby addressing current crises in science and the contemporary world.

Keywords: Critical Psychology; Work and Organizational Psychology; Subjectivity; Agency; Critique; Psychological Epistemology (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035331055
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