This essay discusses the troubled history of the self in the social sciences in the light of two new books that examine the topic from different disciplinary perspectives—psychology and cultural sociology. The psychology text (Hermans & Hermans-Konopka) presents an impressive and wide-ranging elaboration of Dialogical Self Theory—an approach which conceptualizes the self as extended in both space and time. The sociology text (Illouz) examines the modern self through the lens of psychology’s construction of it as flawed and deficient. Both texts converge on a dialogical analysis of the self’s relation to culture (through the medium of psychology). Each is strongly recommended.
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