[Xmca-l] Re: Liquid Modernity

[mike cole]

I look forward to exploring the possibilities you enumerate below, Larry. I
fear interrupting the ongoing
discussion to turn in that direction because it will be complicated and
deserves the kind of concentrated
attention currently being give to the ongoing discussion. I think its
really important that we begin by examining the polysemy of perezhivanie
for which the upcoming issue of MCA will provide a lot of
useful material.

Marking the spot to return to later.
mike

On Sun, Jul 31, 2016 at 7:52 AM, Lplarry <lpscholar2@gmail.com> wrote:

> Mike,
>
> Perezhivanie seems to place **meaning** (meaningfulness) as a central
> focus of attention.  Shifting  or adding **potential** (meaning
> potential) shifts focus to **becoming** (possibility, not yet, can be).
>
>
>
> Here is Zygmunt on this topic:
>
> “Human life is therefore an incessant effort to fill the appalling void,
> to *render life meangingful; ... That incessant effort we call **culture**.
>
>
>
>
> Coupled with Zygmunt’s indicating liquid modernity generates **loss of
> sensitivity** this may be a way into the topic of perezhivanie.
>
> The couplet (meaningful potential & loss of sensitivity) with  permeable
> boundary markings (liminal third place) seems to be an aspect of the turn
> to perezhivanie and **situation of development**
>
>
>
> Sent from my Windows 10 phone
>
>
>
> *From: *Lplarry <lpscholar2@gmail.com>
> *Sent: *July 30, 2016 8:13 PM
> *To: *mike cole <mcole@ucsd.edu>; eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
> <xmca-l@mailman.ucsd.edu>
> *Subject: *RE: [Xmca-l] Liquid Modernity
>
>
>
> Mike,
>
> Yes, Zygmunt’s concept **liquid modernity** captures a profound shift or
> turn in ways social cohesion has transformed from solid to liquid **modes**
> of identity.
>
>
>
> I was referencing the book **Practices of Selfhood**co-written by Zygmunt
> and Rien Raud. The format is a conversation between two passionate persons
> and it is  this quality of talking with each other (written in text) that
> is a way to engage the question of identity formation.
>
>
>
> Rien is a scholar of Japanese philosophy and I anticipated a lively debate
> between the Buddhist approach (the oxcart frames) and Zygmunt’s approach as
> someone who has experienced profound dispossession that was volatile. His
> understanding of the times is very difficult reading but I was hopeful that
> Rien coming from an alternative tradition may provide **answers**
> addressing Zygmunt’s profound articulation of our liquid times.
>
>
>
> This is my reason for juxtaposing **dissolution** of the essential **self**
> with **dispossession** of the modern **self**.
>
> The center of the modern self no longer holds but I hear the possibility
> of a **permeable** self that is open and ethical within situations of
> development.
>
> The notion of the **germ cell** may be a cell with **permeable boundaries**
> where the inner and outer nourish each other.
>
>
>
> Engaging Zygmunt in conversation is a permeable conversation and the
> opening chapter can be downloaded as an ebook
>
>
>
>
>
> Sent from my Windows 10 phone
>
>
>
> *From: *mike cole <mcole@ucsd.edu>
> *Sent: *July 30, 2016 4:33 PM
> *To: *eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity <xmca-l@mailman.ucsd.edu>
> *Subject: *[Xmca-l] Liquid Modernity
>
>
>
> Larry-
>
>
>
> ​Your invocation of *Liquid Modernity* enticed me into reaching for a copy
>
> of the book which I have long meant to read​. Its a very sobering
>
> experience, even after only a couple of hours of reading. I assume it is
>
> the Forward,  not the first chapter you are recommending to the group (hard
>
> to believe we could collectively read and discuss the whole book).
>
>
>
> The Forward is begun by a question from Paul Valery--
>
>
>
> "So the whole question come down to this: can the human mind master what
>
> the human mind has made."
>
>
>
> The answer appears to be, except in transient and microscopic ways, NO.
>
>
>
> I skipped to the last chapter on Community. Like the Forward, and I assume
>
> all of the book, very disquieting. Its almost as if in 1999, when cell
>
> phones were not-yet-smart cellular phones, Bauman saw ISIS and Trump
>
> coming.
>
>
>
> Thanks for getting me to reach for the book. Now what?
>
>
>
> mike
>
>
>
>
>
> --
>
>
>
> It is the dilemma of psychology to deal as a natural science with an object
>
> that creates history. Ernst Boesch
>
>
>
>
>



-- 

It is the dilemma of psychology to deal as a natural science with an object
that creates history. Ernst Boesch