Dear Ricardo-
Can you describe Vygotsky's example you are referring to below, please?
Sounds very interesting but it does not ring a bell, so to speak.
Thanks,
Eugene
_____
From: Ricardo Japiassu [mailto:rjapias@uol.com.br]
Sent: Thursday, January 01, 2004 7:11 AM
To: xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
Subject: Re: real and virtual worlds
On topic 1:
Maybe Vygotsky's "law" of reality of feeling (Psychology of Art and Art and
Imagination in Childhood ) can drop more light on the issue - his classic
example of real feeling started by distorted perception of a (wo)man that
take, at night, her-his trench coat by a theaf inside the room.
Ricardo Ottoni Vaz Japiassu
Universidade do Estado da Bahia/Uneb
http://www.uneb.br
----- Original Message -----
From: Oudeyis <mailto:victor@kfar-hanassi.org.il>
Sent: Wednesday, December 31, 2003 10:21 PM
Subject: Re: real and virtual worlds
Andy and Gene and Ricardo,
It appears to me that we are discussing two or three issues simultaneously:
1. The relationship between virtual reality and false consciousness
2. The emergence and non-emergence of class-consciousness among social
classes
3. Class consciousness and false consciousness.
Concerning the first issue, I would just like to clarify one point:
Virtual reality, as the term is used today, is a constructed replication of
objective conditions - a product designed through the model-building process
of rational thinking to imitate objective conditions - and not to be
confused with lkyenkov's ideational character of perception. Perception
emerges out of a life-time of exposure to objective conditions, and while it
is certainly the product of social relations, hence ideational, it is not
designed nor is it -as perception - a model of anything but itself. As
such, perception is neither virtual or false but simply situated; in space,
in time, and most of all in historical-social conditions.
The second question is more ethnological and historical than theoretical.
In Europe, and especially in Great Britain, class consciousness is much more
widespread than it is, say, on the North American continent -save Mexico and
Central America. In Great Britain, for example, the various classes have a
degree of cultural and political self-consciousness that would be unthought
of in the USof A . This class-consciousness can be accredited to a very
strong awareness and even pride of most Europeans of their not so ancient
Medieval past (remember our discussion on the English Flag?). In the US
something like class-consciousness may be found in the traditional culture
of the old Confederacy, though here as in much of S. America this
class-consciousness is - or was- connected to race and is ultimately related
to the history of conquest and slavery of the North American South and of
Hispanic America. Gene is correct, the most class-conscious social class in
Anglo-North America is that of the old rich. There are a number of theories
concerning this phenomenon - none based on strictly economic issues. During
the course of my college and University experience I've had an opportunity
to mix with scions of old, wealthy families (a lot of them used to study
Anthropology) and my general impression is that most of their class image is
cultural - even aesthetic - rather than economic.
Andy's point that Class consciousness and solidarity are attitudes which
have to be learnt through definite kinds of experience is well taken here -
especially as regards Anglo-North Americans. The US and Canada have
witnessed local and sometimes even Nationwide movements that have been
self-consciously working class in goals and practices, but these have
generally been sporadic and related to extended periods of economic crises
such as the great depression and the midwestern farm crises of the 70's and
80's. Interestingly enough, these have never actually produced a permanent
working-class consciousness, except among American Blacks where the economic
issues were usually totally hidden by ideologies of race. Most of the other
longish-lived working class movements - mostly expressed in energetic Trade
Union organization - usually emerged from large working class groups sharing
a recent past outside the US (immigrants). The Irish Unions of the mid to
late 19th century and the Jewish and Italian Unions of the first half of the
20th century maintained their strength for a generation or two, but declined
in size and vigour as the sons and grandsons of their founders "became real
Americans." In fact, American society has at least till now been a very
mobile one with enough people moving up and down the class ladder even in a
single generation to compromise the development of strong class
consciousness.
Class-consciousness and false consciousness is, as I've written earlier, a
non-issue that sells Newspapers and makes spurious reputations for moral
crusaders of both left and right.
Regards,
Victor
----- Original Message -----
From: Andy Blunden <mailto:ablunden@mira.net>
Sent: Wednesday, December 31, 2003 5:50 AM
Subject: RE: real and virtual worlds
Well, yet again I need to be more precise, don't I.
I suppose what I mean it that, on one end, no two people see the world just
the same way, and at the other we all share the "illusion" that money has
value. I suppose this means that we all start with a number things we pick
up from living in the same capitalist world: the Zeitgeist, the world
market, the dominant social forces and realities, which are the basis of
"ideology". Although we all look at the world from different viewpoints, we
all look at the same world, with its characteristic mirages and illusions.
It could be said that someone looking at it from a "privileged" position is
more able to free themselves from what is illusory, in a better position to
be critical at least in thought if not in action.
Andy
At 08:26 PM 30/12/2003 -0500, you wrote:
Dear Andy
It will be interesting to check/test your (and Victors?) hypothesis about
*all* member of bourgeois society& sharing& the same illusions. I personally
doubt that members of upper class (old moneys) would agree with I believe if
you put an effort into anything, you can get ahead&(Strauss, 1992, p. 202)
But it will be nice to check that. I wish somebody made a study like Claudia
Strauss did with members of working, middle, and upper class people.
What do you think?
Eugene
_____
From: Andy Blunden [mailto:ablunden@mira.net]
Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2003 7:39 PM
To: xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
Subject: RE: real and virtual worlds
Here we come back to what someone (Victor?) said about *all* members of
bourgeois society, whatever class, sharing in the first place, the same
illusions. Class consciousness and solidarity are attitudes I think which
have to be learnt through definite kinds of experience; such experiences are
not to be had in the home, generally are not conveyed in TV; perhaps the
first experiences are in gang-like interactions at school?
Andy
At 07:23 PM 30/12/2003 -0500, you wrote:
Dear Andy, I think you are right on the target talking about, what Jim Gee
calls, projective identity. The question that I have is how and why working
class people participate in middle-class cultural model(or way of talking).
It is not the case that working class people accept any middle class
cultural modelthat available via TV or other popular media. Although I do
not have much data about that but I doubt that many working class people
would buy middle class cultural model of child fostering based on constantly
giving kids choices. So the question is why some working class people
project themselves in self-actualizationmiddle-class cultural model but not
in child-rearing through choice-makingmiddle-class cultural model. I do not
think the preference of working class people in adapting middle-class models
can be explained simply by watching TV. Any ideas?
What do you think?
Eugene
_____
From: Andy Blunden [mailto:ablunden@mira.net]
Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2003 6:38 PM
To: xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
Subject: RE: real and virtual worlds
We could put this together with Jim Gee's observations about play. People
are growing up acting out characters that they see on TV. They believe that
they can make their own character. But this turns out to be a frustrated
experience; they only get to play Doug Heffernan. ... Andy
Claudias study shows that also working class men widely hold this
self-actualizationcultural model they do and cannot enact it (but rather
they act out of necessity-based being a breadwinnercultural model). Victor
or anybody else, can you explain what makes proliferation of cultural
modelsthat people deeply hold but cant enact, please?
Eugene
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