Moving Liberation Psychology Forward
Since the late 1990s, international congresses on liberation psychology have been held, primarily at Latin American universities. These congresses have been attended by hundreds of professionals and students, and have been crucial in perpetuating the social justice message of liberation psychology.
Specific congress themes include human rights, social justice, democratization, and creating models for liberation psychology in psychological practice and pedagogy. In recent years, these meetings have become increasingly focused on addressing issues related to poverty and economic inequality.
International congresses on liberation psychology:
- 1st, 1998 in Mexico City, Mexico
- 2nd, 1999 in San Salvador, El Salvador
- 3rd, 2000 in Cuernavaca, Mexico
- 4th, 2001 in Guatamala City, Guatemala
- 5th, 2002 in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
- 6th, 2003 in Campinas, Brazil
- 7th, 2005 in Liberia, Costa Rica
- 8th, in Santiago de Chile
- 9th, 2008 in Chiapas, Mexico
- 10th, 2010 in Caracas, Venezuela
- 11th, 2012 in Bogotá, Colombia
There are also Liberation Psychology collectives in several places, the most active being in Colombia and Costa Rica.
Liberation psychology is not limited to Latin America. The term was used by Philipine psychologist Virgilio Enríquez, apparently independently of Martín-Baró. Elsewhere there have been explicit attempts to apply the approach to practice in other regions . In 2011 an English language liberation psychology network was established by the British psychologist Mark Burton. It has an international membership which reflects interest in liberation psychology from psychologists who do not read Spanish or Portuguese. Moreover, not all liberatory praxis in psychology goes under the name 'Liberation Psychology".
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