Worldmaking: Psychology and the Ideology of Creativity

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xviii

   PDF

2. Introduction: Our Concept of Change

   • Michael Hanchett Hanson

   Pages 1-18

3. Creativity at Large: Functions and Controversies

   • Michael Hanchett Hanson

   Pages 19-39

4. Ideation: The ‘Box’ and Its Discontents

   • Michael Hanchett Hanson

   Pages 40-63

5. Worldmaking: Functions and Technologies of the Creative ‘Box’

   • Michael Hanchett Hanson

   Pages 64-84

6. Self-Actualization: The Pursuit of Potential

   • Michael Hanchett Hanson

   Pages 85-108

7. Worldmaking: Functions and Technologies of Actualization

   • Michael Hanchett Hanson

   Pages 109-131

8. Development: Lifelong Journeys

   • Michael Hanchett Hanson

   Pages 132-155

9. Sociocultural Dynamics: Changing Worlds

   • Michael Hanchett Hanson

   Pages 156-177

10. Worldmaking: The Emerging Participatory Synthesis

    • Michael Hanchett Hanson

    Pages 178-198

11. Worldmaking 2.0: Our Evolving Ideology

    • Michael Hanchett Hanson

    Pages 199-222

12. Final Note: ‘The Year We Killed Creativity’

    • Michael Hanchett Hanson

    Pages 223-226

13. Back Matter

    Pages 227-266

    PDF

Michael Hanchett Hanson weaves together the history of the development of the psychological concepts of creativity with social constructivist views of power dynamics and pragmatic insights. He provides an engaging, thought-provoking analysis to interest anyone involved with creativity, from psychologists and educators to artists and philosophers.

• creativity
• world making
• psychology
• ideology
• teaching
• learning

'To understand the psychology of creativity one needs to understand first the history and social contexts in which the study of creativity originated. Michael Hanchett Hanson's book offers us an invaluable, scholarly reading of creativity as a powerful ideology. As masterfully shown here, this ideology is both intelligible by yesterday's ways of worldmaking and calls for a deep reflection on the role and function of creativity for tomorrow's world-in-the-making.' - Vlad Petre Gl?veanu, Associate Professor, Aalborg University, Denmark, Editor, Europe's Journal of Psychology, author of Thinking Through Culture and Creativity: An Integrative Model

'Though creativity poses as a natural phenomenon, it has a history. In this incisive genealogy spanning psychology and education, philosophy and cultural studies Michael Hanchett Hanson reconstructs the shifting functions of this central concept. What emerges is not only the story of a concept and a discipline, but a history of ourselves.' - Chris Higgins, Associate Professor and Program Coordinator, Philosophy of Education, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Editor, Educational Theory, author of The Good Life of Teaching: An Ethics of Professional Practice

'Michael Hanchett Hanson's engaging and critical history of theories of creativity will be useful for practitioners and scholars. His focus on the ways we use theories of creativity to construct ourselves and our worlds is itself innovative, as well as pragmatic and thought-provoking.' - Mary Catherine Bateson, author of Composing a Life

• Teachers College, Columbia University, USA

  Michael Hanchett Hanson

Michael Hanchett Hanson founded and directs the Masters Concentration in Creativity and Cognition at Teachers College, Columbia University, USA. He has written about practical guidelines for creativity in education; creativity as an emerging social construction, and use of ironic thinking in creative work. Michael encourages his students to analyze the ideological functions of the concept of creativity and to participate in the ongoing construction of the concept by studying, evaluating and applying a variety of theories and practices. His pragmatic approach is informed by decades of first-hand experience in curriculum development and program evaluation for educational institutions, youth development programs, museums and corporations.

Policies and ethics