Writings for a Liberation Psychology

These essays touch on religion as a tool of ideology, the meaning of work and the way in which reality becomes fragmented in a politically repressed society...Those who worked to bring forth these essays have added a measure of justice to his life. -- Richard Higgins Boston Globe Martin-Baro's essays are...characterized by a concreteness and a passion for justice, and they offer tremendous insights into Salvadoran society as well as the struggle for liberation. -- Terry Coonan Human Rights Quarterly Adrianne Aron and Shawn Corne's excellent introduction contextualizes the volume, both within the Salvadoran peasant communities with whom much of Martin-Baro's work was developed and within the academic/intellectual communities to whom it is addressed. The chapters are organized around three major themes, which are, arguably, the major dimensions along which Martin-Baro's work developed: political psychology, war and trauma, and de-ideologizing reality. The selections demonstrate his contributions to social psychology as well as his intense involvement in the social reality of his adoptive country, El Salvador...[This is an] excellent volume. It is required reading for psychologists seeking a more critical psychology--one that takes responsibility for its social position and privilege, and challenges the status quo. It is an equally important resource for those who seek ideas and examples for developing indigenous psychology from the base of marginalized people's lives, in coalition with them. -- M. Brinton Lykes World Psychology