Re: [xmca] New Book: Zones of Proletarian Development

Sounds cool to me, but I am not the book review editors, so i will cc them.
mike

PS-- I will be especially interesting the courses of action that follow from
this analysis
of early 21century capitalism!

On Thu, Jul 24, 2008 at 7:49 AM, Jonna Kangasoja <
jonna.kangasoja@helsinki.fi> wrote:

>
> Why not. Maybe Bruce and I can do a review for MCA together? First we read
> the book and then get organized - ok?
>
> Jonna
>
> Mike Cole kirjoitti 24.7.2008 kello 17.10:
>
>
> How about a full fledged review in MCA, Jonna? AND a discussion?
>> There are many interested in this line of "non-discussion" so perhaps its
>> time to make a not not not not.
>> mike
>>
>> On Thu, Jul 24, 2008 at 6:44 AM, BRUCE ROBINSON <BRUCE@brucerob.eu>
>> wrote:
>>
>> Jonna,
>>>
>>> Thanks for this description. I have ordered the book from Amazon. It may
>>> be
>>> a little while before I can get down to reading it in detail so in the
>>> meantime carry on with any other observations you may have. I took part
>>> in
>>> both the London events she mentions in case that's a qualification ;). I
>>> don't know the author either.
>>>
>>> You raise some important issues about the absence of this kind of topic
>>> from CHAT. If I remember rightly, there were a couple of articles in
>>> 'Historical Materialism' a couple of years ago that made some relevant
>>> links. I will try and dig them out.
>>>
>>> Bruce
>>>
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jonna Kangasoja" <
>>> jonna.kangasoja@helsinki.fi>
>>> To: "eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity" <xmca@weber.ucsd.edu>
>>> Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2008 1:48 PM
>>> Subject: Re: [xmca] New Book: Zones of Proletarian Development
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Bruce, Mike and others,
>>>
>>>>
>>>> I got the Mastaneh Shah-Shuja book yesterday and after a quick look it
>>>> seems well written and a fun read. Most importantly, like Bruce said,
>>>> after
>>>> a long time of waiting this book breaks the crying silence inside the
>>>> CHAT
>>>> field concerning research on contemporary political organization, e.g.
>>>> the
>>>> anti-capitalist movement (why not also the environmental movement) and
>>>> by
>>>> doing that opens up several lines of 'non-discussion'.
>>>>
>>>> One of the key arguments of the book is that the current phase of
>>>> capitalism consists of four methods of surplus value extraction: real
>>>> and
>>>> formal, supplemented by 'pre-formal' and 'post-real'. The 'pre- formal'
>>>> represents the forms that could be called 21st century slavery (e.g.
>>>> child
>>>> labor) and 'post-real' involve the application of computing, cyber,
>>>> genetic
>>>> and biotechnologies to labor power. The post-real mode of extraction
>>>> will
>>>> be completely original and may come to dominate and shape the
>>>> interaction
>>>> within this four-runged matrix.
>>>>
>>>> She writes:
>>>> "It is the the enterity of the this four-runged evolving hierachical
>>>> matrix (i.e. pre-formal, formal, real, post-real), with all its
>>>> tensions
>>>> and potential for joint activity, that I have termed the surreal phase
>>>> of
>>>> domination. [...] It is my argument that collectivities, and perhaps
>>>> especially those that turn riotous or carnevalesque (i.e. those that
>>>> transgress routine) provide transformative space 'in which subjectivity
>>>> is
>>>> unfurled, through the re-appropriation of of communication and the
>>>> experience of co- operation, a transformation in which the material
>>>> operation of reappropriation is also a moment of self-awareness'
>>>> (Negri,
>>>> 1989:138)."
>>>>
>>>> The two case studies discussed in the chapter 'Activity theory and
>>>> Social
>>>> Movements' are the 1990 anti-poll tax riots in Trafalgar Square and
>>>> the
>>>> Anti-war demonstration of February 2003 in London with over million
>>>> demonstrators.
>>>>
>>>> The chapter also presents critique of activity theory and reflects on
>>>> utility and limitations of it for the present analysis. (I think that
>>>> this
>>>> type of section is too often missing in CHAT inspired studies.)
>>>>
>>>> Why this contribution comes, what it seems, completely outside of the
>>>> 'CHAT-field', is also an important question. Or has someone come across
>>>> the
>>>> author before?
>>>>
>>>> I hope she can join the discussion after people get the book in their
>>>> hands. Bruce promised in the previous note to start it.
>>>>
>>>> Jonna
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> BRUCE ROBINSON kirjoitti 21.7.2008 kello 18.27:
>>>>
>>>> Like London buses, you wait a long time for writings on CHAT and
>>>> radical
>>>>
>>>>> political consciousness and two come along at once (well, nearly -
>>>>> Wayne
>>>>> Au's paper on Lenin & Vygotsky has been out for about a year.) I
>>>>> imagine
>>>>> this takes a very different much more 'spontaneist' view of the
>>>>> zoped. I
>>>>> will get hold of a copy and post about it here. I haven't also
>>>>> forgotten my
>>>>> offering to write about Au and will when I get a bit more time. Maybe
>>>>> a
>>>>> comparison.
>>>>>
>>>>> Bruce R
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Phil Chappell" <
>>>>> philchappell@mac.com
>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> To: <xmca@weber.ucsd.edu>
>>>>> Sent: Monday, July 21, 2008 12:26 AM
>>>>> Subject: [xmca] New Book: Zones of Proletarian Development
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Apologies for cross-posting
>>>>>
>>>>>> Phil
>>>>>>
>>>>>> New Book Information (An OpenMute Publication)
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Zones of Proletarian Development
>>>>>> Mastaneh Shah-Shuja
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> In this book, Mastaneh Shah-Shuja presents a novel approach for the
>>>>>> study-extension of the social movement. Employing conceptual tools
>>>>>> from Marx,Vygotsky, Bakhtin and Activity Theory she examines the
>>>>>> interaction
>>>>>> of individuals within crowds in a variety of settings including
>>>>>> London
>>>>>> May Day celebrations, riotous Iranian carnivals, the anti-poll-tax
>>>>>> rebellion, the
>>>>>> great anti-war demonstration of 15 February 2003 and a number of
>>>>>> historical and contemporary political organisations. She identifies
>>>>>> ?zones of
>>>>>> proximal development? (Vygotsky) where people learn from each other,
>>>>>> solve
>>>>>> social problems, develop consciousness and engage in collective
>>>>>> meaning-
>>>>>> making.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Crucially, she demonstrates how capitalism is metamorphosing at a
>>>>>> number of fronts simultaneously. She shows how new methods of
>>>>>> exploitation and
>>>>>> accumulation are being challenged by an emerging universal class
>>>>>> unencumbered by some of the limitations of previous struggles. The
>>>>>> reactionary
>>>>>> nature of liberalism, social democracy, fascism and bolshevism are
>>>>>> examined
>>>>>> whilst the once-radical ideologies of left communism, council
>>>>>> communism,
>>>>>> anarchism,
>>>>>> autonomist marxism, libertarian socialism and situationism are
>>>>>> subjected to critical interrogation.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Imaginatively presented, with a collection of illustrations, Zones
>>>>>> of Proletarian Development captures the increasing complexities of
>>>>>> the
>>>>>> class struggle in the twenty-first century and offers concrete
>>>>>> suggestions for organising against capitalism.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Table of contents
>>>>>> Introduction
>>>>>> Chapter one - Epistemology, Methodology and Method
>>>>>> Chapter two- Vygotskian May Days
>>>>>> Chapter three- Iranian football riots as Bakhtinian
>>>>>> carnivalesque
>>>>>> Chapter four- Activity Theory and Social Movements: Two case
>>>>>> studies
>>>>>> Chapter five- Towards a new kind of revolutionary organising
>>>>>> Appendix 1- Mindful Thuggery and the Spectacularisation of
>>>>>> Drama
>>>>>> Appendix 2- The Glorious Proletarian Siege of Oxford Street
>>>>>> References
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Subjects:
>>>>>> Political Science-History & Theory - Radical Thought;
>>>>>> Psychology-Social Psychology;
>>>>>> Social Science-Sociology - Social Theory
>>>>>>
>>>>>> ISBN: 978-1-906496-06-7 pbk.
>>>>>> May 2008, 244x170 mm, c. 360 pages
>>>>>> Recommended retail price: ?15/?21/$30
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Author's biography: Mastaneh Shah-Shuja is an independent researcher
>>>>>> from an Afghani-Iraqi background although she has also lived
>>>>>> extensively in both Iran and Russia. She is currently living in the
>>>>>> United Kingdom with her two children. Mastaneh has been involved in
>>>>>> anti-capitalist politics since her early teens. Please send reviews/
>>>>>> comments to Mastaneh Shah-Shuja at: m.shahshuja {AT} yahoo.com
>>>>>>
>>>>>> This book can be ordered from all good bookshops including Amazon:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> For Amazon in UK go to
>>>>>> http://www.amazon.co.uk/Zones-Proletarian-Development-Mastaneh-
>>>>>> Shah-Shuja/dp/1906496064
>>>>>>
>>>>>> For Amazon in USA go to
>>>>>> http://www.amazon.com/Zones-Proletarian-Development-Mastaneh-Shah-
>>>>>> Shuja/dp/1906496064/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1209735928&sr=1-1
>>>>>>
>>>>>> For Amazon in Canada go to
>>>>>> http://www.amazon..ca/Zones-Proletarian-Development-Mastaneh-Shah-
>>>>>> Shuja/dp/1906496064
>>>>>>
>>>>>> For Amazon in Japan go to
>>>>>> http://www.amazon.co.jp/Zones-Proletarian-Development-Mastaneh-Shah-
>>>>>> shuja/dp/1906496064/ref=sr_1_8/503-4060494-
>>>>>> 3574325?ie=UTF8&s=english-books&qid=1209735460&sr=1-8
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Other bookshops you can order it from:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The New Social Worker Online go to
>>>>>> http://shop.socialworker.com/Poverty-11294-1906496064-
>>>>>> Zones_of_Proletarian_Development.html
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Eruditor.com go to
>>>>>> http://www.eruditor.com/books/item/9781906496067.html.en
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Blackwell go to
>>>>>> http://bookshop.blackwell.co.uk/jsp/display_product_info.jsp;jsessio
>>>>>> nid=9518B86EDF540D371C4B07D9AF52CB10.bobcatt1?isbn=9781906496067
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> ----- End forwarded message -----
>>>>>>
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>> xmca mailing list
>>>>>> xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
>>>>>> http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
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Received on Thu Jul 24 11:32 PDT 2008