Re: distribution and exchange

[Mike Cole <lchcmike@gmail.com>]

Seems like this is an issue for Mr. Engestrom to address. But first,
are you sure it
is not addressed in Learning by Expanding or later publications?
mike


On Sat, 13 Nov 2004 11:24:17 -0000, Bruce Robinson
<bruce.rob@btinternet.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Wolff-Michael Roth" <mroth@uvic.ca>
> To: <xmca@weber.ucsd.edu>
> Sent: Friday, November 12, 2004 3:44 PM
> Subject: distribution and exchange
> [...]
> > Has anyone worked on the fact whether it made sense to overlay
> > production-consumption-exchange-distribution, which Marx discussed at
> > the society level onto YE's triangle, which deals with any local,
> > concretely realized activity?
> > Thanks for any pointers.
> > Michael
> 
> I think this is a really important point that I'd like to see discussed at
> length - p(and which would draw me out of semi-lurkerdom) viz: can the
> activity-theoretic tools we use to analyse specific activities just be
> scaled upward to analyse the macro level? I don't think they can not least
> because of the emergent properties of social structure / institutions. I
> have recently been reading some of the critical realist stuff alongside
> attempts to merge dialectics with 'emergentism' and they seem convincing on
> this. Plus I have written a paper with a colleague which deals with the
> failure of soft systems theory to adequately analyse a historical situation
> precisely because it draws its boundaries around the level of what SSM calls
> the 'human activity system'.
> 
> I can see that the higher levels are present as mediators within lower level
> activity systems i.e. activity has to take place through them but do not
> think they themselves can be understood at this level even though they are
> the products of and maintained through human activity.
> 
> Is this unfair to AT? If not, how should we think about integrating it into
> a broader framework?
> 
> Just thought I'd throw out a few easy questions before running for my train
> ;)
> 
> Bruce Robinson
> 
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