Active Minorities and Social Representations: Two Theories, One Epistemology.

During the last four decades, two social psychological theories have had tremendous influence on a generation of researchers: the theory of social representations and the theory of active minorities. One scholar, Serge Moscovici, has developed these two theories, but they each lived independently and they were seldom confronted one another. Both theories aim to develop a dynamic perspective in the analysis of social reality and devote themselves to the understanding of social change. They are both interested in conflict which takes place in society and which may allow a reflection on the motivations for action, decision–making and change. In this article we pose the question as to whether these two theories, despite their independent lives in social psychology, may have anything in common apart from the fact that they were created by one scholar. Specifically, we pose the question concerning the epistemological relationship between these two theories. In order to answer this question, we first present the most important aspects of each theory and then reflect on their epistemological relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]