P. 62 is puzzling. The sentence at the bottom reads "Thus, this project
allows me to examine processes of "identification" and "contextualization"
-that is, the mutual production of identities and contexts FOR activity-under
conditions of overt conflict and transformation."
Might be better phrased as "Thus, this project allows me to examine processes
of "identification" and "contextualization" -that is, the mutual production
of identities and contexts THROUGH activity-under conditions of overt
conflict and transformation." That is, if one understands activity to embody
and 'bring out' the social, cultural, and historical elements that function
in the making of context. The problem with the symmetrical view, as Kevin
puts it, is that it is not completely symmetrical, but leans a little too far
toward cultural causation, perhaps in rejection of cognitivism:
"From the perspective of situated learning as an aspect
of cultural production, however, both those who succeed and those who
fail in school, like Lave and Wenger's apprentices, are simply becoming
good at what they are given the opportunity to do on a routine basis- "
Put more symmetrically, people make contexts as contexts make people. They
embody their history and may not succeed at what they are routinely given the
opportunity to do, they may not be able to mutually constitute a zone that
leads them forward. The child whose mother drank alcohol while pregnant may
have great difficulty with attending to tasks and remembering what someone
said. Willis' lads were able to engage in processes of identification during
manual labor, but not during schooling, contributing to making the former
contexts for learning, but not the latter. We can't ignore that a person is
a material, biological, and psychological unit that embodies his or her past,
can move from one place to the next, and can make as well as be made, imho.
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