just beginning Crisis

From: Mike Cole (mcole@weber.ucsd.edu)
Date: Sat Aug 25 2001 - 08:53:19 PDT


Bruce-- I'll be lagging in this conversation until I have a chance to read
Vygotsky's "Crisis" afresh for this discussion. I found your questions
concerning paradigms interesting but don't want to respond out of context.

I do have some thoughts on your second question, however. What was:

That brings me to the second point. It seems to me that critical theories
(in the widest sense, those seeking to critique and redress exploitation,
inequalities of power etc) will always remain in a subordinate position
within their disciplines regardless of how good their analysis and
resolution of the disciplinary crisis may be - at least until broader social
change brings them to the fore. There is a danger of implicitly assuming
that the best ideas will always win out in the clash of intellectual
argument if they can convince enough people. Sadly, that isn't the case, as
I'm sure we all know ;).

Bruce
-----

This is an issue I have struggled with a lot. One way to react to this
is to absolve oneself of any responsibility vis a vis professional activity
until the broader social change comes along, and perhaps, instead, to work
on wherever you think the high leverage points are with respect to such
channge.

There are of course various hybrid lines of action one could adopt (while
remembering that the best ideas don't always (often?) win, at least not in
one's lifetime.

One line that I have thought holds promise relates to the theory/practice
issue which is somewhere near the core of the question, I believe. Current
dominant views, say, with respect to acquisition of literacy, routinely
fail, and do so in ways that have painful, visible consequences for participants. If one can create theory driven practices which succeed as visibly as
practices supported by dominant views fail, it seems to be both good
science and perhaps a modest contribution to promoting "broader change" (
depending on just how broad you mean).

When criticism leads to quietism, it helps to sustain harmful practice and
perpetuates bad science.

Does that sound reasonable?

I hope to get in some reading time ere sundown and look forward to Laszlo's
response to you note.
mike



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