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

[Huw Lloyd]

V. funny David.  I was going to wait for the 5 year olds to start speaking,
but I'll put my "thank you" in here now, seeing as I've been mentioned.
Actually, as I recall, I started my questioning on the basis of putting a
table of comparisons together. :)

I think the points Mike made can be turned over a number of times --
perhaps the repetition is part of the longevity, though I have no idea
where this bloke boundary is, so assume I must be a regular trespasser in
order to traipse out a point or two.

Thanks Mike.

Best,
Huw

On 24 October 2016 at 23:30, David Kellogg <dkellogg60@gmail.com> wrote:

> 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
> >
> >
> >
>