Politics, Culture, and Identity Lab

Founded in 2007, the PCI Lab is based in the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Scholars affiliated with the lab study the intersection of identity and politics, with a focus on how social categories (e.g., gender, sexual identity, national identity) influence both individual subjectivity and relative power and privilege among groups. We take an interdisciplinary approach that is problem-centered, rather than discipline-centered, but nonetheless draws heavily from the perspectives of critical social psychology and cultural psychology. Theories and methods from across the social sciences are used to examine socially relevant research questions. Research projects associated with the lab are theoretically grounded, seek to empower the voices of research participants through an emphasis on qualitative methods, and possess implications for concrete social action and/or public policy.