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The return to the notion of subject and the approach of social representations

The article notes a return, in social sciences, to the notion of subject likely to lead to a new approach of subjectivity in the field of study of social representations. After an examination of the moments that have signified the death and resurrection of the notion of subject, it develops the different themes characterizing the reintegration of this notion in history, sociology and anthropology. These themes allow to rule out the risk of a solipsist vision in the treatment of the subjective part of social representations. For that purpose, a schema is proposed, relating the genesis and the functions of social representations to three spheres (subjective, inter-subjective, trans-subjective), and illustrated by an analysis of the debates concerning the famous Mahomet's caricatures affair. The final remarks claim to orient the study of social representations towards the relations between thinking and social change.

social representations; subject; subjectivity; inter-subjectivity; trans-subjectivity; horizon; thinking


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