The new book is slated for review in xmca I believe.
mike
On 8/20/06, Tony Whitson <twhitson@udel.edu> wrote:
>
> Is anyone familiar with this book?
> Context and Consciousness: Activity Theory and Human-Computer Interaction
> (Hardcover)
> by Bonnie A. Nardi (Editor)
> http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0262140586/
>
> The editor has a new book coming out in October:
> Acting with Technology: Activity Theory and Interaction Design (Acting
> with
> Technology) (Hardcover)
> by Victor Kaptelinin, Bonnie A. Nardi
> http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0262112981/
>
> Here's the description:
> Book Description
> Activity theory holds that the human mind is the product of our
> interaction
> with people and artifacts in the context of everyday activity. Acting with
> Technology makes the case for activity theory as a basis for understanding
> our relationship with technology. Victor Kaptelinin and Bonnie Nardi
> describe activity theory's principles, history, relationship to other
> theoretical approaches, and application to the analysis and design of
> technologies. The book provides the first systematic entry-level
> introduction to the major principles of activity theory. It describes the
> accumulating body of work in interaction design informed by activity
> theory,
> drawing on work from an international community of scholars and designers.
> Kaptelinin and Nardi examine the notion of the object of activity,
> describe
> its use in an empirical study, and discuss key debates in the development
> of
> activity theory. Finally, they outline current and future issues in
> activity
> theory, providing a comparative analysis of the theory and its leading
> theoretical competitors within interaction design: distributed cognition,
> actor-network theory, and phenomenologically inspired approaches.
>
> About the Author
> Victor Kaptelinin is Professor in the Department of Informatics at Umeå
> University, Sweden. Bonnie A. Nardi is Associate Professor of Informatics
> in
> the School of Information and Computer Science at the University of
> California, Irvine.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu [mailto:xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu] On
> Behalf Of Mike Cole
> Sent: Saturday, August 19, 2006 4:22 PM
> To: Bremme Don
> Cc: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
> Subject: Re: [xmca] Wertsch, context,deja vu: RE: LSV-& Dialogical Self --
> context (withunrelated bonusnon-irony irony)
>
> Seems relevant to me, Don. The problem, so to speak, is to get the
> required
> threads in one's hand at the right moment, and that book is not to hand.
>
> And of course, Tony's use of his own prior not to respond to my recent
> post
> re context illustrates how important his quotation from
> Barthe about the importance of re-reading is. We read things we cannot
> assimilate at time N and at time N=! they become a
> revelation because they "fit the current pattern" of the thoughts we
> having
> as we try to see a pattern in our experience.
>
> Re Wertsch and context for a moment. p. 18. He is talking about two senses
> in which communication is social (I think we could
> sub "human experience" for communication, but he is heading to Rommetveit
> and Lotman, so communication is just fine). He
> contrasts "two or more people carrying out a process" or the
> "interactional" ""level"" with "the broad sociocultural context within
> which it [the two person interaction] occurs."
>
> We ALL talk this way using the term context at times. But a few lines
> later
> the term "sociocultural setting" has been substituted. So
> setting and context are taken as synonymous? And we ALL make such
> substitutions which often seem harmless and perhaps
> inescapable (social situation of development/environment/situation). But
> the way we make such substitutions worries me.
>
> Most generally, I worry that we conflate interweaving, relational notions
> of
> contexts for container notions (I will try to get some
> relevant McDermott materials out about this in the next couple of days if
> people wish to pursue the issue).
> I worry that we do not detect the slippage in our own thinking. What is a
> "larger sociocultural context" if not some unit of human life that is made
> up of. constituted by, many threads of people interacting? Is the
> Acropolis
> a place of worship, a tourist attraction, or a fort to be blown apart if
> your enemies are occupying it and you want them dead? (As it was a couple
> of
> hundred years ago). Etc.
>
> All of this of course relates to the issue of intersubjectivity in Jim's
> paper. But that is for a later time, if....
> mike
>
> On 8/19/06, Bremme Don <dbremme@whittier.edu> wrote:
> >
> > Regarding context and self, "inside"/"outside" I've found the following
> > provocative. (I got into this as a result of its listing a previous
> xMCA
> > thread, by the way, so this is merely re-presenting, in re: Mike's
> question
> > quoted here):
> >
> > Dorothy Holland, William Lachiotte Jr., Debra Skinner, and Carole Cain
> > I<<dentity and Agency in Cultural Worlds.>> Cambridge, MA: Harvard
> > University Press, 1998
> >
> > Apologies of this is tangential to the Wertsch currently under
> discussion.
> >
> > Don
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu on behalf of Tony Whitson
> > Sent: Sat 8/19/2006 12:05 PM
> > To: xmca@weber.ucsd.edu; mcole@weber.ucsd.edu
> > Subject: [xmca] Wertsch, context,deja vu: RE: LSV-& Dialogical Self --
> > context (withunrelated bonus non-irony irony)
> >
> > Mike, your concern about "context" reminded me of a previous thread, in
> > which you asked:
> >
> > > If the personality is the highest form of sociality, the unit of
> > > analysis for understanding the "whole person," what does it mean to
> > > talk about relationships BETWEEN the personality
> > > and its social context? Is context outside and personality inside?
> > Really?
> >
> > My response is below (In fact, I'm sending this message as a response in
> > the
> > earlier thread, not the new one). I am almost finished with the Wertsch
> > chapter, and there's a whole lot worth discussing in that short chapter.
> > If
> > I can work it in around my course preparation, thesis-reading, etc., I
> > will
> > be joining in this weekend; partly by extending my comments from the
> > earlier
> > thread.
> >
> > First, I have to break to get some lunch.
> > Here's where the "bonus irony" comes in:
> >
> > I am taking a camera with me so I can stop on my way to the grocery
> store
> > to
> > photograph the sign in front of the local Assemblies of God church that
> > (still, I hope) says, "It's hard to stumble when you're on your knees!"
> >
> > At first I thought that was ironic, since it could be read in a whole
> > different spirit than intended.
> >
> > Then I realized the only ironic thing is that it's NOT ironic: My
> > "different
> > meaning" is in fact not really different from the one intended.
> >
> > What do you think? (& consider this instance in terms of Wertsch &
> Lotman,
> > around pp. 24-26 in the chapter).
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Tony Whitson [mailto:twhitson@UDel.Edu <twhitson@UDel.Edu>]
> > Sent: Sunday, February 13, 2005 11:11 AM
> > To: mcole@weber.ucsd.edu
> > Cc: xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
> > Subject: Re: LSV-& Dialogical Self -- context
> >
> > Mike, There is sometimes a perplexing resistance to recognizing the kind
> > of question you are raising.
> >
> > For example, when Derrida says "Il n'y a pas d'hors-texte",
> > there are many who perversely repudiate him as saying that there is no
> > reality outside of verbal texts. In fact he has insisted that it would
> be
> > better to translate his claim as "there is no 'con-text'" (rather than
> > "there is no reality outside of texts"). As you are asking, Derrida is
> > contending that the reality we're dealing with is an
> > interwoven textile/textuality such that an analytical separation between
> > an "inside" and "outside" rends apart the structured interweaving that
> we
> > need to see if we want to understand what we are looking at.
> >
> > On Sun, 13 Feb 2005, Mike Cole wrote:
> >
> > > Odd what sparks discussion here.
> > >
> > > I have also been reading Valsiner and will go back to it through this
> > lens.
> > >
> > > I found the following statement odd.
> > > The two [Stern-individualism and Vygosk] are brought together in
> > > Valsiner's theory, which highlights the sign-constructing and
> > > sign-using nature of all distinctively human psychological processes.
> > > Arguing that the individualistic and the cultural traditions differ
> > > largely in emphasis, Valsiner unites them by focusing on the intricate
> > > relations between personality and its social context, and their
> > > interplay in personality development.
> > >
> > > If the personality is the highest form of sociality, the unit of
> > > analysis for understanding the "whole person," what does it mean to
> > > talk about relationships BETWEEN the personality
> > > and its social context? Is context outside and personality inside?
> > Really?
> > >
> > > mike
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > On Sun, 13 Feb 2005 14:38:27 +0100, George <researcher@safe-mail.net>
> > wrote:
> > >> Dear Phil,
> > >>
> > >> I do not have Engeström's et al. book. Would you happen to have an
> > >> electronic copy of Davydov's article? or know a link - although I
> > >> searched an could not find anything?
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> On Feb 13, 2005, at 12:53 PM, Phil Chappell wrote:
> > >>
> > >>> Davydov's essay: Davydov, V.V. (1999) The content and unsolved
> > >>> problems of activity theory, in Engestrom, Y, Miettinen, R and
> > >>> Punamaki, R-L "Perspectives on Activity Theory" Cambridge University
> > >>> Press
> > >>
> > >> Best regards,
> > >>
> > >> George
> > >> (Hansjoerg von Brevern)
> > >>
> > >> -------------------------------------
> > >>
> > >> Research in e-Learning Objects, e-Learning meta data standards,
> > >> didactical activity, Systemic-Structural Activity Theory, and
> > >> Socio-cultural Theory
> > >>
> > >>
> > >
> > >
> >
> > Tony Whitson
> > UD School of Education
> > NEWARK DE 19716
> >
> > twhitson@udel.edu
> > _______________________________
> >
> > "those who fail to reread
> > are obliged to read the same story everywhere"
> > -- Roland Barthes, S/Z (1970)
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > xmca mailing list
> > xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
> > http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
> >
> >
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