Re: [xmca] The sociocultural turn in psychology

[Andy Blunden <ablunden@mira.net>]

This book ("The Sociocultural Turn in Psychology. The
Contextual Emergence of Mind and Self," edited by Suzanne R.
Kirschner and Jack Martin) arrived from Amazon today. I have
been just far to busy to read the whole book at the moment,
but I did take the opportunity to read the last article, by
Natalia Gajdamaschko and Mike Cole.

It was a good read, summing up a series of problems about
formal schooling, social change, context and situation and
the differing diachronic and synchronic interpretations of
cultural and historical difference, particularly between
Russian and American Vygotskyists.

I think I had read a lot of it elsewhere, but this is a very
recent and concise recapitulation of the issues. It may well
be that our Russian friends interpret "social situation of
development" exlusively in the context of a single series of
non-overlapping stages of development, but I really think
this is not only independent of the concept of  situation
(as opposed to 'context'), but really antithetical to it.

Am I right, Mike, that you were intentionally recruiting
Vygotsky in the service of richer interpreation? I would.

I also noted the observation that some people more easily
remember (and presumably conceptualise in some way) an idea
which is presented to them in a story, rather than as a
collection of attributes in an hierarchical taxonomy. I
personally think that there is nothing "primitive" about
thinking in narratives. In fact, if someone wants to arrange
ways of thinking in a hierarchy, I would put narratives at
the top. I remember asking an old friend from the 60s why we
who got politicised in the late 60s/70s, liked folk music in
the 50s/early 60s, while all those who went off and got jobs
liked rock music. What was the connection? She said: folk
music had stories, whilst rock music was just "Baby baby, do
you love my shoes?" or whatever.

Andy
mike cole wrote:
> Looks to be an interesting book. There is a rumor that at some point in 
> the future contributing authors will see a copy! :-)
> mike
>
> On Fri, Jun 18, 2010 at 7:53 AM, Andy Blunden <ablunden@mira.net 
> <mailto:ablunden@mira.net>> wrote:
>
>     Understood Larry. That's why I used the word "also", except I
>     mistyped and it came out "lso"! :)
>
>     andy
>
>     Larry Purss wrote:
>
>         Andy
>          my comments were in the spirit of emphasizing the tradition of
>         psychoanalysis AS A  SOCIOCULTURAL PRODUCT AND REFLECTION of the
>         times in which it was written.  Through an historical lens
>         Kirschner narrates the roots of the tradition and therefore is
>         contributing to the developing reactions and critiques of
>         psychoanalysis as an historical product influential in the 20th
>         century. The questioning and challenging of its presuppositions
>         in the human sciences has generated deeper reflections on
>         psychology as a tradition. Kirschner's history of psychoanalysis
>         [as an historically constituted product  of its time] is an
>         historical sociocultural narrative.  I mentioned her previous
>         writing to put in "context" Kirschner's background. I found it
>         interesting that her current book synthesizing sociocultural
>         accounts was written by an author with her previous interests.
>          Moscovici, in explicating his theory of social represention
>         also has written a book on the emergence and dissemination of
>         psychoanalyis as an historical sociocultural phenomena.  These
>         historical reflections are in a similar spirit of exploring the
>         notions of Western religion and how the moral themes of Western
>         religious traditions can continue to emerge in contemporary
>         human science narratives.
>          Larry
>         On Fri, Jun 18, 2010 at 5:40 AM, Andy Blunden <ablunden@mira.net
>         <mailto:ablunden@mira.net> <mailto:ablunden@mira.net
>         <mailto:ablunden@mira.net>>> wrote:
>
>            I've never been very much interested in psychoanalysis (too
>            unscientific for me) but Eli Zaretsky's "Secrets of the Soul" (a
>            history of psychoanalysis) I really enjoyed, lso emphasising
>            psychoanalysis as a product and reflection of the times
>         rather than
>            as a viable theory of mind.
>
>            Andy
>
>
>            Larry Purss wrote:
>
>                PS,
>                Andy,for the historian in you, Suzanne Kirschner has written
>                another fascinating book on the cultural historical roots of
>                psychoanalysis that is an historical  developmental
>         account of
>                how Freud's theory is a continuation of our Western religious
>                heritage.  A concrete example of how our "traditions that
>                constitute us as persons" emerge from specific concrete
>                historical circumstances.  She has an interesting
>         intellectual
>                background from which to co-author this new book on the
>                sociocultural turn in psychology.
>                Larry
>
>
>
>            _______________________________________________
>            xmca mailing list
>            xmca@weber.ucsd.edu <mailto:xmca@weber.ucsd.edu>
>         <mailto:xmca@weber.ucsd.edu <mailto:xmca@weber.ucsd.edu>>
>
>            http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
>
>
>
>     -- 
>     ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>     *Andy Blunden*
>     Home Page: http://home.mira.net/~andy/ <http://home.mira.net/%7Eandy/>
>     Videos: http://vimeo.com/user3478333/videos
>     Book: http://www.brill.nl/scss
>
>
>     _______________________________________________
>     xmca mailing list
>     xmca@weber.ucsd.edu <mailto:xmca@weber.ucsd.edu>
>     http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca

--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Andy Blunden*
Home Page: http://home.mira.net/~andy/
Videos: http://vimeo.com/user3478333/videos
Book: http://www.brill.nl/scss



_______________________________________________
xmca mailing list
xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca