[Xmca-l] Re: Polysemy of "Community"

[Cliff O'Donnell]

> It is certainly true that what we know about it we know only thanks  
> to and through our activity.

	On that we agree.

> Vygotsky was most certainly of the view that the material world  
> existed independently of our activity through which it is endowed  
> with meaning. ("Historical Meaning etc ...." s. 13)

	I'm also of the same view, but it is that meaning which I think  
matters (and is the basis for community intervention).

> My point is that we cannot restrict ourselves to Activity, to the  
> extent that we marginalise the significance of the objective  
> existence of the artefacts mediating the actions making up activity  
> or the actions themselves. The material conditions of life  
> (including the human body) are an essential, irreducible part of  
> human life. And that requires not just a nod, but real attention.

	Perhaps our 1990 chapter would address your concern with "the  
objective existence of artifacts" that integrated CHAT concepts of  
activity settings, joint activity, and intersubjectivity with  
behavioral means of influence to influence the activity of a setting  
and form a guide to community intervention.
	
> But let's move on. Cliff, the meaning you attach to  
> "*intersubjectivity*" is not one I have come across in CHAT. For  
> CHAT writers, "intersubjectivity" simply refers to the sum total of  
> interactions between individuals, not any particular state or  
> attributes of that process. What does it mean for you?

	Quoting from our article:

"intersubjectivity develops in activity
settings during joint productive activity, facilitates the
activity, and becomes the shared meanings of culture
through semiotic processes (largely linguistic) that
accompany the members’ shared activity. Intersubjectivity
results from the shared experiences among people engaged
in collaborative interaction: their history, values, thoughts,
emotions, and interpretations of their world. Intersubjectivity
is the psychological commonality that provides
meaning in their lives. As intersubjectivity is developed,
their activities are facilitated and culture propagated (Cole
1985 ; O’Donnell and Tharp 1990 ; Vygotsky 1981)."

Cliff