[Xmca-l] Re: Solids and Liquids/Entities and dynamic flows

[Peg Griffin]

down.cenet.org.cn/upfile/19/20064111162198.pdf  but it downloads the whole 390 + pagebook

-----Original Message-----
From: xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu [mailto:xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu] On Behalf Of mike cole
Sent: Saturday, August 06, 2016 11:22 AM
To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: Solids and Liquids/Entities and dynamic flows

My apologies for not appending the reference. For some reason part of my message disappeared, the ref included. Odd wanderings of fingers not under proper control. I only have this book in hard copy. If anyone has it in a pdf, please send to the group.
If nothing turns up in the next day or so I will scan the chapter and post it. I do not love all that it has to say, but it seems worthwhile for those interested in the issues.

mike

Adams, G., & Markus, H.R., (2003). Toward a conception of culture suitable for a social psychology of culture. In, M. Schaller, M., & C.S. Crandall (Eds.). *The Psychological Foundations of Culture. Erlbaum. Mahwah, NJ. pp.
335-360.*

On Fri, Aug 5, 2016 at 11:58 PM, Rod Parker-Rees < R.Parker-Rees@plymouth.ac.uk> wrote:

> Many thanks for this, Mike.
>
> I too would love to read this article. I am particularly interested in 
> the way many cultures (some more than others) tend to nail down flows 
> and processes by turning verbs into nouns. While there is a 
> developmental model which emphasises flow and change there are others 
> which aim to halt or dam the flow by identifying stages (like locks 
> along a river?) which can be thought about more as things. And there 
> are versions of social psychology which focus more on relationships, interactions and intersubjectivity.
>
> I think there is something about the necessary abstractness of 
> concepts (which have to be sufficiently pulled out from specific 
> contexts to allow them to be shared) that draws them towards 
> reification, turning a flow into a thing (the river, the flow!). But 
> in our lived experience the past runs into the present and the future 
> also shapes the flow. I think the idea of perezhivanie catches this 
> idea of a reciprocity between our past social experiences and the way we make sense of what flows our way.
>
> Sorry if this seems vague and fluid!
>
> All the best,
>
> Rod
>
> On 6 Aug 2016 1:23 am, mike cole <mcole@ucsd.edu> wrote:
> I stumbled over an article on the "the psychological foundations of 
> culture" with a summary/discussion article by Adams and Markus. (ref 
> below). The authors contrast two prominent definitions/theories of 
> culture prominent in the literature on the relationship between 
> culture and human psychological processes. The characterization struck 
> me forcefully as an example of Bauman's solid-liquid distinction in a 
> different discourse stream, providing food for thought on the topic of 
> mind, culture, and activity.
>
>
>
> One approach is closely related to developmental approaches such as my 
> own, Barbara Rogoff, Patricia Greenfield, Mike Tomasello). It traces 
> its origins to ploughshares and agriculture, the process of making 
> things grow, nurturing. a process transpiring over time. The other 
> (Social Psychology) adopts "the customary beliefs, social forms, of a 
> racial, religious, or social group."
>
>
>
> The first, developmental approach is said to view "culture as dynamic 
> process or flowing medium" while the second, social psychology view is 
> described as an "entity conception of culture." The entity conception 
> "implies a conception of culture as a relatively 'fixed' system of 
> "customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits." It also 
> associates this system with readily identifiable 'racial, religious, or social group."
>
>
>
> The authors then list "several undesireable consequences" of adopting 
> the entity point of view. I found these very interesting. I will just 
> list them. If there is sufficient interest I can get a scan of the chapter made.
>
>
>
> Stereotyping
>
> Homogenizing
>
> Essentializing
>
> Reifying
>
>
>
> There is, unfortunately, no similar list for the liquid, 
> developmental, perspective. Liquids, Bauman remind us can spill and 
> spoil the rug and need to be contained. They flow, to be sure, but 
> that flow is constrained by a cup.
>
>
>
> The authors adopt a view they call "culture as patterns."
>
>
>
> The juxtaposition of these readings and the ongoing discussion of the 
> 11 ox paintings has induced me to think again about long standing 
> ideas. Always enlightening. Thanks.
>
>
> mike
>
> --
>
> It is the dilemma of psychology to deal as a natural science with an 
> object that creates history. Ernst Boesch 
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-- 

It is the dilemma of psychology to deal as a natural science with an object that creates history. Ernst Boesch