The link between "macro" and "micro" (fwd)
HDCS6 who-is-at jetson.uh.edu
Fri, 05 Jan 1996 16:15:55 -0600 (CST)
Perhaps the answer to understanding the continuity (and macro) aspect
of activity lies in regarding activity in its broader sociological
context. I am thinking here of the activity-->need-->activity cycle
and its close cousin the consumption -->production--> consumption
cycle discussed by Marx, Leontiev, and Engestrom. Recognition that
in an activity the motivation or need that is the driving force
is not internal to the organism, but the result of some prior
activity (an argument you have to make if you are taking a strong
materialist position). This, I think, might allow you to keep the
activity as the unit of analysis, but to understand that it occurs
in a sociological framework as a reaction to a prior activity that
forced the need. And that as soon as this activity is completed and
the need is met it will automatically force another need.
Michael Glassman
University of Houston