Definition of Social Construct

The thought has a double dimension, since it is individual but at the same time collective. Consciously or unconsciously, every organized society creates structures of language and ideas as if they were artifacts. When this happens, we speak of a social construct.

An analysis of fashion from the concept of social construct

In relation to the way we dress our clothing, it is not the result of a totally autonomous decision, since it depends on a social construct, the fashion of each historical moment.

If someone were to dress in clothes of the Middle AgesWe would think that it is a costume or someone who participates in a movie set in this historical period. This association of ideas has an explanation: this way of dressing only makes sense in a certain culture and outside of it it acquires a very different meaning.

Mental schemas are subject to a process of permanent change

This general idea is specified in the different looks over time. In the 1950s there were social concerns and circumstances that ended up creating human archetypes, for example mods or rockers.

In the following decade, a sector of society built a hippie style and clothing. In the 70s the punk style appeared and in the 80s cyberpunk.

These makeovers go beyond aesthetic appearances, as each urban tribe has its own ideas and values, that is, constructs created by a sector of society with which it is possible to express concerns, interests and feelings.

A stream of thought

Social constructivism is a theory of the sphere of sociology and a theoretical framework of the epistemology. From this perspective, a knowledge or a sphere of reality is analyzed taking into account its germ and its development in the social context. This implies that human action is what builds any area or dimension of culture: a trend of fashion, an educational model, a scientific theory or a popular festival.

In a simplified way we could say that everything happens on a stage sociocultural. From a philosophical point of view, social constructivism tries to answer a general question: how do we know what exists?

According to social constructism, the reality of the world and individual thought are not determined by immutable categories of divine or natural type, but human action in its complexity it is the one that guides the different constructs.

Fotolia photos: Visions-AD / Lklyt