Perhaps the most daring self-theorist working today, Hubert Hermans offers another creative gem that crosses academic boundaries and blurs traditional divisions among social and behavioral scientists. In proposing a theory of the democratic functioning of the self, Hermans takes us beyond his Dialogical Self Theory to show how a dynamic process of internal dialogue is inescapably liked to the democratic organization of society at large. Society in the Self will surely stimulate novel thinking, provoke new research, and incite fresh interpretations of the foundation of democracy itself.

Peter L. Callero, Professor of Sociology, Western Oregon University

Society in the Self is the latest advancement in the Dialogical Self theory that has been created by one of the most innovative social scientists of the recent decades: Hubert Hermans. This book extends the original system of the multi-voiced processes that take place in the human individual Self to the operation of societies, with the specific focus on how democratic societies function. This is very much needed in our present time when we often become involved in fighting for democracy in societies other than our own, not analyzing the complex processes by which our own democratic systems function. This book fills in the gap, and introduces a new way of analyzing societies as dynamic systems in their deep dialogical tensions and occasional ruptures.

Jaan Valsiner, Niels Bohr Professor of Cultural Psychology, Aalborg University, Denmark