1st Edition
Studies of Life Positioning A New Sociocultural Approach to Psychobiography
Chapter 1: A Psychobiography of Life Positioning. Chapter 2: Stanley Milgram’s Penchant for Revealing and Concealing. Chapter 3: Pierre Elliott Trudeau and the 1970 October Crisis in the Canadian Province of Quebec. Chapter 4: Ernest Becker’s Quest for a Philosophical Anthropology by way of Human Evil. Chapter 5: The Symmetrical Relationship and Conjoint Agency of Dorothy Burlingham and Anna Freud. Chapter 6: The Asymmetrical, Manipulative Relationship Between Jim Thorpe and Pop Warner. Chapter 7: Revisitings, Reflections, and Critical Considerations.
Biography
Jack Martin is Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Simon Fraser University, Canada. He is a recipient of the Society of Theoretical and Philosophical Society’s Award for Distinguished Lifetime Contributions. The focus of Jack’s current work is on personhood and the study of lives, using positioning theories such as Position Exchange Theory and Life Positioning Analysis.
“In Studies of Life Positioning: A New Sociocultural Approach to Psychobiography, Jack Martin makes an enormous contribution to the current discourse on methodological approaches to the study of individual human lives and their intersubjective and sociocultural matrices… The real strength of Martin’s LPA framework is that it highlights how intersubjectivity, or the mutual understanding between individuals, emerges from the co-ordination and integration of different perspectives gained through social interactions.”
Heather Macdonald, Fielding Graduate University, USA, writing in Theory & Psychology, 1–3, 2025, doi/10.1177/09593543251320048
“One [strength] is Martin's ability to integrate both psychological and sociocultural perspectives and to show how psychological processes are intertwined with sociocultural contexts, and how both are crucial for developing an in-depth understanding of individual lives from interdisciplinary viewpoints. Another highlight of the book is Professor Martin’s engaging writing style: he presents complex ideas in an accessible and intriguing way and opens up ideas for potential applications of the life positioning approach - even within the life of the readers… it is an innovative, thought-provoking and valuable contribution to the field of contemporary psychobiography. It provides a fresh perspective on the study of individual lives and is highly recommended for anyone interested in new theoretical and methodological approaches to psychobiography and exploring the complex interplay between individuals and their sociocultural worlds on a deeper level."
Claude-Hélène Mayer, University of Johannesburg, South Africa
