Ronald J. Mallon

This study contributes to an on-going research program into social constructionist claims about human groups. It offers a naturalistic account of social construction that integrates constructionist theorizing in social theory with recent work in philosophy, social psychology, evolutionary theory, and cognitive science. While there is ongoing interest in social construction among philosophers of political and social theory, there has been little sustained discussion of the social construction of human groups among philosophers of science, psychology, and cognitive science. This project addresses that gap. It also illuminates broader constructionist concerns with human oppression and freedom by linking constructionist models with accounts of human agency.