Well I think I did a bad job of trying to tie the topic of global political
economy back into mental development. Surely the whole point of the
Cultural Historical approach to psychology is to recognise that to a great
extent, world social relations are our external personality. Living in a
world where "combined and uneven development" manifests itself in
political-economic development certainly entails the emergence of specific
forms of consciousness. Modern consciousness is replete with forms that
specifically arise from this phenomenon: (1) the substitution of "really
existing socialism" for the "socialist utopia of the future"; (2) the
replacement of the conception of a history led by the most advanced
cultures by a conception of history being made elsewhere; (3) the gradual
loss of coherent ideals in the formation of ethical conceptions in favour
of various forms of compromise and solidarity; (4) an emergent universalism
based on the world market replacing a conception of property or cultural
qualification for inclusion.
I am sure that the same kind of phenomenon would be observable in group
development, or in the development of a person's capacity in multiple
activities. The "combined" aspect joins the "uneven" element when the
possibilities for the "advanced" to develop without both conflict with
other advanced formations and transformation of the "less advanced" parts
of a complex are exhausted.
Andy
At 01:18 PM 24/10/2003 -0700, you wrote:
>I agree, Andy, my quote from Engels was a little over the top and off
>topic from xmca. Enough of that direction, and thank you for your
>summary. But in some ways its your fault (he says tongue in
>cheek). Since we began studying Marx in that xmca course earlier this
>year, I have been amazed at how useful the archives on marxists.org can
>be, and combined with a search engine and some basic knowledge of Marxism,
>how these archives can incredibly speed up research - and make it very
>easy to copy and post passages. Maybe a little too easy? :-)) I will
>limit such temptations! Thank you for all the effort you have put into
>making that ease of research and copying possible. Much appreciated.
>
>Best,
>- Steve
>
>
>Andy wrote:
>>I fear this thread is getting a bit away from xmca interests. So rather
>>than pursuing the fascinating intricacies of historical analysis, there
>>is a general process point which may be of interest to those not caught
>>up in the social history of Russia. etc.
>
><snip>
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