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Drawing on Durkheim's terms collective and individual representations, the concept of social representations (SR) was developed by Serge Moscovici in 1961 in his study of everyday understandings of psychoanalysis in France. In the last 50 years SR has become an established field within social and cultural psychology. As a whole, this research demonstrates that social representations are systems of communication and social influence that constitute the social realities of different groups in society. They serve as the principal means for establishing the shared knowledge, common practices and affiliations that bind social members together (Duveen, 2001) and thereby act to support systems of inclusion and exclusion. [excerpt from the Introduction] ; N/A

Abstract This paper examines social representation in the European Parliament using a model which uses the demand, the supply and the structure of opportunities as factors explaining differential recruitment. Analysis of the experiences of candidates suggest that supply–side factors proved more strongly related to candidates gaining winnable seats than demand–side factors. Results also confirm the importance of institutional structures in widening or narrowing opportunities, and suggest the European Parliament will remain social unrepresentative in the foreseeable future, a characteristic that serves only to add to the already considerable problems of legitimacy in the European Union.

This paper examines social representation in the European Parliament using a model which uses the demand, the supply and the structure of opportunities as factors explaining differential recruitment. Analysis of the experiences of candidates suggest that supply-side factors proved more strongly related to candidates gaining winnable seats than demand-side factors. Results also confirm the importance of institutional structures in widening or narrowing opportunities, and suggest the European Parliament will remain social unrepresentative in the foreseeable future, a characteristic that serves only to add to the already considerable problems of legitimacy in the European Union. (European Journal of Political Research / FUB)

Social Representations is one of the most important theories in contemporary social psychology. Since the social psychologist Serge Moscovici developed his theory of social representations to explain how a scientific theory such as the psychoanalysis turns into a common sense knowledge many studies have been done by different social psychologists. The analysis of the social representations of women as represented in myths & popular beliefs is an excellent opportunity to study how this theory can be applied to this representational field. At the same time it makes possible to understand the formation of attitudes towards women.

Intro -- Preface -- Acknowledgements -- Contents -- Abbreviations -- Chapter 1 Building a Sand String: Social Representations for the Anthropocene -- Abstract -- 1.1 The Objective of This Book -- 1.2 On the Anthropocene as a Societal Era and Its Common Sense Relation to Social Representations Theory -- 1.2.1 The Anthropocene and the Earth System: A Conceptual Unfolding -- 1.2.2 Establishing the Common Sense Relation Between the Anthropocene and Social Representations Theory -- 1.3 A Brief Regional Outline of the Social Representations Research Groups Presented in This Book -- 1.4 About the Chapters in the Book -- References -- Chapter 2 Social Representations and History: Theoretical Problems -- Abstract -- Introductory Comment -- References -- 2.1 Introduction -- 2.2 Representation: At the Crossroads of Two Historiographic Paths -- 2.3 Memory and History -- 2.4 Final Considerations -- References -- Chapter 3 Social Representations in the Study of Disaster Risk in the Municipality of Piedecuesta, Santander (Colombia): The Social Cognitive Dimension -- Abstract -- Introductory Comment -- Theoretical-conceptual overview -- Methodology -- Results -- Conclusions -- 3.1 On the Analysis Offered in this Chapter -- 3.2 Theoretical-Conceptual Review: Risk and Social Representations -- 3.2.1 Social Representations Theory and the Processual Approach -- 3.3 Methodology and Area of Study -- 3.4 Results -- 3.4.1 Theoretical-conceptual Interaction of the Social Approach and the Moscovician Perspective -- 3.4.2 Categories, Integrative Elements and Basic Content -- 3.5 Analytical Categories -- 3.5.1 Socio-Cognitive Dimension -- 3.5.1.1 Piedecuestanos Residents and their Know-How Common to Disaster Risk -- 3.6 The Peri-Urban Population's Representations of Risk: What Do They Know? How do They Know It? And From Where Do They Know?.

11. The lattice of polemic social representations: a comparison of the social representations of occupations in favelas, public housing, and middle-class neighbourhoods of Brazil / David V. Canter and Circe Monteiro -- 12. Finding social representations in attribute checklists: how will we know when we have found one? / Christopher R. Fife-Schaw -- 13. Multidimensional scaling as a technique for the exploration and description of a social representation / S. Caroline Purkhardt and Janet E. Stockdale -- 14. The meaning of work for young people: the role of parents in the transmission of a social representation / Lucia Mannetti and Giancarlo Tanucci -- 15. Social representations of mental illness: lay and professional perspectives / Bruna Zani -- Epilogue: methodological contributions to the theory of social representations / David V. Canter and Glynis M. Breakwell

The author examines the specific contribution that social representations research has made to health psychology. In particular, the approach highlights the symbolic, emotive and social aspects of how lay people make meaning of facets of health and illness, and emphasizes the importance of the evolution of these meanings. Empirical work on health and illness is used to cast light on the specific workings of social representations and on the enrichment of the health field offered by this naturalistic perspective. Distinctions are drawn between the social representations approach and other social constructionist approaches in the health field. In addition, the differentiation between social representations and more mainstream approaches to health issues is examined. Primarily, the social representations approach eschews the notion of human thought as analogous to information processing, with the attendant individualist, cognitivist and rationalist assumptions, and recognizes the importance of non-verbal material in the study of the human psyche.

Abstract
When referring to values as "general principles of desirability" or as "social cohesion binders", one should bear in mind that such notions contribute decisively to the shaping and crystallization of social representations. It would be improper to believe that there may be in-depth ("exhaustive") studies upon people, ideas and events, as this approach disregards the fact that social representations have the capacity of being strongly anchored in the dynamics of relational processes, to the symbolic relationships specific to a given social field, to the values that constitute the eloquent expression of this dynamics and this specific field of research. An eloquent example in this respect is the way in which the social representation of leaders appears; data show that there is harmony between the image of power the leaders have or could have and the axiological dimensions of the group participating in the elaboration of such an image.

In this article results of the analysis of a place and a role of risk in system of social representations are discussed. The structure of social representations about risk is studied. Inter-generation features of perception of risk are analyzed.

Restoring species to their former range has become a major goal in official environmental policy. Under strict protection, the expansion of a new wolf population has been taking place on the Scandinavian Peninsula since the late 1980s, leading to much controvery in rural areas. Most research on conflicts concerning wolves has taken antagonistic attitudes as a point of departure. In this article we question such an approach. Taking social representations as our framework for analysis, our aim has been to find out how wolves are perceived and whether an analysis of such cultural meanings could contribute to a better understanding of the conflicts accompanying wolf recovery. Focus group interviews in two areas in Eastern Norway suggest that it is not antagonistic interpretations of the carnivores' nature that fuel the conflicts over wolves, but different views as to whether they belong in the areas where they are now found. Yet, at the same time, it is against the undisputed background of the wolf's perceived character that the negotiations over their belonging to Norwegian nature make sense. We so argue that the theory of social representations provides a comprehensive framework for studying the complex relationship between consensus and diverging opinions, and between culturally embedded representations and conflict, that appears to lie at the heart of such issues.