Chapter 8: Argumentation And Reflexivity

The aim of this chapter is to explore the way in which discursive and argumentative analyses may facilitate the emergence of participants’ reflexive practices during social interactions. As we consider reflexivity embedded in the practices of argumentation, we intend to analyze how the participation framework and the argumentative practices of adults and children can elicit the emergence of the capacity to be active thinkers in different settings of interaction. In our perspective, participants constitute their model of rationality interactively, as inner logic emerging in the course of different interactions. In particular, we focus on argumentative discussions in which people are concerned with showing and clarifying the rationality of their conducts for themselves and for the others as well. This need for accountability is considered the core of the reflexive practices continuously accomplished by social actors during interactions