[Xmca-l] Re: Time for a Generational Change

[David Kellogg]

An excellent example of sociogenetic regression--Mike abandons
husbandry and reverts to a form of hunting and gathering, viz. fly-fishing.

On the first problem--the mansplaining blokey-ness of xmca. I think this at
least partly solved in the make-up the editorial committee of the journal.
One might object that editing is really an administrative function, and so
this is yet another example of the feminization of lowly roles. I think
that is not true generally and certainly not true at MCA: I can remember,
actually, when a whole genre of articles (the shorter pieces) could be
suddenly abolished by editorial fiat. And, as Mike says, xmca is really, at
bottom, a forum for the discussion of provocative articles in MCA.

The second problem seems more intractable to me, but for that very reason I
think it is probably less specific to xmca. Instead of managing to build
vertical knowledge structures, as in the natural sciences, with each layer
resting on and in principle reducible to the lower layer, social scientists
tend to create horizontal ones, with their own tribal rules, rites of
passage, and above all their own forms of discourse. Interestingly, the
kind of "interdisciplinarity" that MCA has always encourages, based on very
specific topics but subtended by a vast body of all embracing theory, seems
to exacerbate the segmentary mode rather than ameliorate it. Not sure why.

Huw tries to set up points of comparison that might actually enable
inter-tribal cooperation at least between closely allied groups of
CHATniks (psychology, social process, cultural factors in the work of
Vygotsky, Galperin, Leontiev, Davydov, Wertsch, Rogoff and Matusov,
Engstrom). That, I think, is a step in the direction of thematic unity, and
transdisciplinarity. It's really thematic unity that holds together the
natural sciences (that is, the idea that everything can be studied as a
form of matter, or as a chemical, or as a life form, etc.), and its
transdisciplinarity that makes lasting alliances and fixed concepts
possible.

Something for Mike to ruminate about while he's off fly-fishing.
Mike's skill as a sheepdog always did owe something to his ability to get
into a sheepskin.

David Kellogg
Macquarie University

On Tue, Oct 25, 2016 at 8:44 AM, Goncu, Artin <goncu@uic.edu> wrote:

>
>
> Dear Mike,
>
> Thank you very much for your contributions and your tireless leadership
> for the growth of this community.  As a member of this xmca list, as one
> of the former editors of MCA, and a contributor of LCHC Newsletter, I have
> learned a lot from you and others in this community.  This list remains a
> significant part of my life that I follow in anchoring my work and
> checking on like-minded colleagues.  Most importantly though, all
> throughout my career I felt a special sense of belonging to this community
> that has accepted me for who I am and what I am able to contribute.  Thank
> you!
>
> In gratitude and solidarity, ag
>
> Artin Goncu, Ph.D
> http://www.artingoncu.com/
> Professor Emeritus,
> University of Illinois at Chicago
> College of Education M/C 147
> 1040 W. Harrison St.
> Chicago, IL 60607
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Mon, October 24, 2016 12:35 pm, mike cole wrote:
> > Hear Yee XMCA -O-Phytes.
> >
> >
> >
> > Having removed myself from the active faculty of LCHC which is now in the
> > capable hands of Angela Booker and Stephan Tanaka, the time has come for
> > me
> > to step back from the doings of MCA and XMCA.  At MCA the new editorial
> > team of (in reverse alphabetical order, Jennifer Vadeboncoeur, Bonnie
> > Nardi, Victor Kaptelinin, and Natalia Gajdamashko) has taken over as
> > editors, and begun the process of carrying the enterprise into a new
> > generation. I will remain as a kind of "editor for special projects" for
> > the journal and will continue to participate in XMCA.
> >
> >
> >
> > But with respect to XMCA it is past time for me to give up what David
> > Kellogg has called my "pastoral" role in seeking to coordinate and
> develop
> > discourse focused around provocative articles that appear in the journal.
> > The original idea was to provide authors with rapid feedback and public
> > recognition instead of having to wait the 2-3 year cycle of replying via
> > an
> > authorized journal.
> >
> >
> >
> > The reality, as you know, is somewhat different - a mélange of topics
> > that
> > intersect, loop back on themselves, and leak out into the semiosphere.
> >
> >
> >
> > Luckily, Alfredo Jornet has offered to try his hand at the pastoral role,
> > and will be recognized on the journal masthead as *MCA Forum Mediator*.
> > Alfredo brings to the task his early career in Spain, his later career in
> > Norway, and his present career in Victoria. And all of this international
> > experience before has started "his career." Brave soul. Alfredo and the
> > editors are considering a variety of options for the future of the
> > journal,
> > including importantly, its status as a new medium promoting rapid
> exchange
> > of the news between otherwise isolated scholars with complementary
> > interests.
> >
> >
> >
> > My participation in xlchc and then xmca has been central to my adult
> > education, and I appreciate what I have learned here more than words can
> > suffice to explain. There are not so many academic ecologies in the
> world,
> > so enduring those that do spring up seems a worthwhile way to promote its
> > reproduction.... keeping in mind Phillip White's reminder that the future
> > of development is not predictable at the level of everyday experience.
> >
> >
> >
> > As I see it, there are two major failures in this effort over the years.
> > The first is the enormous imbalance in the gender representation of the
> > participants. With a few periods where the exceptions ended up proving
> the
> > rule, female voices have been conspicuously absent. Academic "guy talk"
> > has
> > dominated. Understanding and, if possible, re-mediating that sad set of
> > circumstances seems like a major task for the future.
> >
> >
> >
> > Second, MCA discourse does not accumulate. The discussions are more like
> > chaining than the development of new concepts. As in the Sakharov -
> > Vygotsky blocks experiment, we talk about green triangles then blue
> > triangles then blue squares, each a legitimate line of inquiry, but
> > constantly changing criteria/topics as we go. Every once in a while we
> > ascend to the level of pseudo-concepts (these are the cases that evoke
> the
> > most controversy it seems to me). My fond hope is that Alfredo and our
> > sometimes engaged tech gurus will provide a more supportive environment
> > for
> > the creation of "truce concepts" -- agreement on a broad set of
> > principles/empirical embodiments and a research program that identifies
> > the
> > limits of the theory and the most fruitful lines of inquiry.
> >
> >
> >
> > Thus spake
> >
> > mike
> >
> >
>
>
> Artin Goncu, Ph.D
> http://www.artingoncu.com/
> Professor Emeritus,
> University of Illinois at Chicago
> College of Education M/C 147
> 1040 W. Harrison St.
> Chicago, IL 60607
>
>
>