Re: [xmca] I don't understand what the Routledge site wants me to do

On 2/15/08 11:34 AM, "Mike Cole" <lchcmike@gmail.com> wrote:

> So, as a preview Martin, is Vygotsky relevant today?
> :-)
> mike

I'm keen to find out, from the discussion!

But OK, I can set the stage a little. A few years ago, on a flight to AERA
in San Diego, I read Yarochevski's biography of Vygotsky and it completely
changed my understanding of what V was trying to do. I knew enough about
Marx to recognize that there was a dimension to V's work that had gone
largely unnoticed in most discussion in the US. So I started to try to
figure out more about this dimension. The question of relevance arises from
the fact that in many quarters Marx is regarded as no longer relevant.
(Obviously that can be debated too, ad personally I don't think it is the
case, but I will resist the temptation now.) Can a psychology grounded in
Marxism be relevant today? First we need to figure out just what the
grounding consists of.

This paper is one of a pair. In it try to make the case that Vygotsky drew
from Marx a particular conception of history. The second paper proceeds from
there to argue that this conception creates difficulties for proper
attention to culture, because it tends to arrange cultures on a historical
axis from primitive to civilized. That paper is not yet ready for human
consumption, but knowing at least this much about it may help with
discussion of the merits and dismerits of the one just published.

Martin

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Received on Fri Feb 15 08:55 PST 2008