What is liberation psychology?
The field of liberation psychology, or liberation social psychology, emerged during the 1970s out of Latin America, primarily from the works of social psychologist Ignacio Martín-Baró. This field—grounded deeply in the critical social science tradition and driven by an intense desire to assist exploited peoples—challenged the widely-accepted Eurocentric tradition of positivist social science and its assumptions regarding the value-neutrality and universalism of “true” social scientific discovery. At the heart of liberation social psychology is the idea of “political-social consciousness raising,” or concientización.
Today, liberation social psychology has influenced other vital fields, such as community psychology, mental health, the psychology of marginalized groups, and education, to name a few. Notably, the original “empowerment” principles of the discipline remain relevant at the present moment. That is, through consciousness raising, an acknowledgment of alienating environments, a devotion to the needs of the exploited, an open mind to the experiences of the exploited, the deconstruction of malicious ideologies, and the use of eclectic research approaches, liberation social psychology can play an essential role in bringing to fruition a progressive, complex, and highly-inclusive feminist philosophy founded in peace, human dignity, self-determination, and unconditional love.