Re: power and play

Judy Diamondstone (diamonju who-is-at rci.rutgers.edu)
Sun, 3 Mar 1996 21:23:44 -0500

At 04:46 PM 3/2/96 -0500, Bill Penuel wrote:
. [Maybe
>performing the alternative path against social gravity needs such a "3rd
>space" or maybe we should ask how "3rd spaces"
>can be deliberately framed."]
>
>I think this is a really fruitful line of inquiry, and I would predict that
>we could observe these kinds of 3rd spaces going on in most joint activity.
> Insofar as people bring different purposes to activity and different ones
>emerge for participants, there will always be available this difference or
>"intermingling" of power/resistance as a resource for a Heyoka-figure or
>anyone else to draw from to transform activity.

So the analytical task would be to 1. show intermingling of purposes
(emergence of "3rd spaces") and 2. show EITHER how it's made a resource
by participants for deliberate change of social orderings, OR simply
how it serves as a resource or pretext within the activity for some
activity-specific transformation (assuming that the Heyoka spirit can
operate without attaching to a Heyoka figure).

I suppose the "coming to light" of such "spaces" of meta-activity
resources depends on at least one participant's meta-orientation
toward the activity, as Bill wrote.

Presumably any foregrounding of such spaces makes the
meta-orientation more available for others....
So this would have some wider eco-social bearing, some potential
for change beyond the boundaries of the activity.

Can Bill or someone else say who the participants on this list
are who have written about this kind of phenomenon and what they
have written? (in addition to Kris G.'s recent work). I hate to
admit this here, but I am a recent _MCA_ subscriber, and don't
know Mike Cole's more recent work on the 5th Dimension. Any
references?

- Judy

>
Judy Diamondstone
diamonju who-is-at rci.rutgers.edu
Rutgers University

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