RE: Vygotsky and Postmodernism

From: Carrie L. Lobman (lobman@rci.rutgers.edu)
Date: Fri Sep 12 2003 - 11:10:35 PDT


Mike,

I agree with your comment about it being more helpful to consider and both
(in most things in life--not just Vygotsky and postmodernism). Given that
not only Vygotsky, but we, live in a thoroughly modernist world--how could
he/we be anything but both. It seems to me that the power of his work lies
in part in the relationship, interplay, dance between his postmodern
methodological activity and his modernist statements/examples. Your
statement about the centrality of cultural mediation playing havoc with
modernist determinism is very helpful in thinking about how to articulate
this.

Some of the issues I am grappling with in this chapter are the relationship
of learning, development, play and performance as well as ensemble
meaning-making.

Carrie

I am about to disappear from the electronically reachable world, but it
might be helpful to consider the possibility that instead of either or
its better to consider and both. The centrality of cultural mediation
in LSV's thinking plays havoc with modernist determinist social science
theories, but his invovlement with Marxist activism and acted-upon-
belief that it is worth spending some of life's rare and precious time
on seeking to promote the welfare of others plays in the opposite direction.
-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Cole [mailto:mcole@weber.ucsd.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, September 10, 2003 10:26 PM
To: xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
Subject: Re: Vygotsky and Postmodernism

carrie--

I am sure you will get enough varieties of answers to your question
to keep everyone busy for a while, but I am not sure they will give
you a definitive answer.

You might start with Jim Wertsch on the ambivalence in Vygotsky's
thinking. Jim, roughly, argues, LSV was both.

Then you might try latour who argues with considerable justification
that we never have been modern.

Of course, you might start from the position that there are only two
kinds of people in the world: those who believe in dichotomies and those
who do not.

My fate is to fit none of these categories.

(Probably a misunderstanding which either those who know the truth or those
who do not will, or will not, straighten us out on).

I am about to disappear from the electronically reachable world, but it
might be helpful to consider the possibility that instead of either or
its better to consider and both. The centrality of cultural mediation
in LSV's thinking plays havoc with modernist determinist social science
theories, but his invovlement with Marxist activism and acted-upon-
belief that it is worth spending some of life's rare and precious time
on seeking to promote the welfare of others plays in the opposite direction.

What particular issues are you trying to decide such that you raise the
question and the answer might shape the sorts of tools you use to tackle the
problems you perceive? Grounding in concrete cases sometimes helps to
clarify the issues. Unfortunately, since grounding itself is not
unproblematic,
it is not a fool proof procedure.

To that, this fool can amply testify!
mike



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