An important pre-cursor to Ken Gergen’s idea of ‘Relational Being’ is his explanation of social constructionism. This page firstly beings with some resources to introduce and explain social constructionism. Or, you can just skip straight to ‘Relational Being’.

The following book gives a fantastically clear and inspiring explanation of social constructionism. Even if you are well versed in social constructionism I would still recommend that you read this book.

Ken Gergen (2015) An Invitation to Social Construction, Third Edition, SAGE Publications Ltd.

In the following short video Ken Gergen introduces the book:

An Explanation of Social Constructionism

In the following video Ken Gergen explains social constructionism and discusses some examples and key concepts.

Relational Being

Ken Gergen (2009) Relational Being Beyond Self and Community, Oxford University Press.

In the following short video Ken Gergen very briefly introduces the main ideas of the book:

The Taos Institute

'Creating Promising Futures through Social Construction'

If you find these ideas interesting, the Taos Institute is an excellent place to explore them further and to read about example of these ideas being used in projects and research.

In this short video Ken and Mary Gergen talk about the Taos institutie and discuss their hopes for the 20th Anniversary Celebration Conference, which was held 2013.