A very thought-provoking post, Andy. May I ask you about the phrase "to a
great extent, world social relations are our external
personality." Vygotsky of course emphasized the concept of
internalization, the concept that social relations are internalized, and in
doing so, (speaking generally), create individual personalities. But on
first blush it does not seem to me to be symmetrical to say that world
social relations are our external personality. I seem to be missing
something. Could you explain this phrase for me?
Thanks,
Steve
At 04:02 PM 10/25/03 +1000, you wrote:
>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
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