Re: [xmca] New Book: Zones of Proletarian Development

Why not. Maybe Bruce and I can do a review for MCA together? First we
read the book and then get organized - ok?

Jonna

Mike Cole kirjoitti 24.7.2008 kello 17.10:

> How about a full fledged review in MCA, Jonna? AND a discussion?
> There are many interested in this line of "non-discussion" so
> perhaps its
> time to make a not not not not.
> mike
>
> On Thu, Jul 24, 2008 at 6:44 AM, BRUCE ROBINSON <BRUCE@brucerob.eu>
> wrote:
>
>> Jonna,
>>
>> Thanks for this description. I have ordered the book from Amazon.
>> It may be
>> a little while before I can get down to reading it in detail so in
>> the
>> meantime carry on with any other observations you may have. I took
>> part in
>> both the London events she mentions in case that's a
>> qualification ;). I
>> don't know the author either.
>>
>> You raise some important issues about the absence of this kind of
>> topic
>> from CHAT. If I remember rightly, there were a couple of articles in
>> 'Historical Materialism' a couple of years ago that made some
>> relevant
>> links. I will try and dig them out.
>>
>> Bruce
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jonna Kangasoja" <
>> jonna.kangasoja@helsinki.fi>
>> To: "eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity" <xmca@weber.ucsd.edu>
>> Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2008 1:48 PM
>> Subject: Re: [xmca] New Book: Zones of Proletarian Development
>>
>>
>>
>> Bruce, Mike and others,
>>>
>>> I got the Mastaneh Shah-Shuja book yesterday and after a quick
>>> look it
>>> seems well written and a fun read. Most importantly, like Bruce
>>> said, after
>>> a long time of waiting this book breaks the crying silence
>>> inside the CHAT
>>> field concerning research on contemporary political
>>> organization, e.g. the
>>> anti-capitalist movement (why not also the environmental
>>> movement) and by
>>> doing that opens up several lines of 'non-discussion'.
>>>
>>> One of the key arguments of the book is that the current phase of
>>> capitalism consists of four methods of surplus value extraction:
>>> real and
>>> formal, supplemented by 'pre-formal' and 'post-real'. The 'pre-
>>> formal'
>>> represents the forms that could be called 21st century slavery
>>> (e.g. child
>>> labor) and 'post-real' involve the application of computing,
>>> cyber, genetic
>>> and biotechnologies to labor power. The post-real mode of
>>> extraction will
>>> be completely original and may come to dominate and shape the
>>> interaction
>>> within this four-runged matrix.
>>>
>>> She writes:
>>> "It is the the enterity of the this four-runged evolving hierachical
>>> matrix (i.e. pre-formal, formal, real, post-real), with all its
>>> tensions
>>> and potential for joint activity, that I have termed the surreal
>>> phase of
>>> domination. [...] It is my argument that collectivities, and
>>> perhaps
>>> especially those that turn riotous or carnevalesque (i.e. those
>>> that
>>> transgress routine) provide transformative space 'in which
>>> subjectivity is
>>> unfurled, through the re-appropriation of of communication and the
>>> experience of co- operation, a transformation in which the material
>>> operation of reappropriation is also a moment of self-
>>> awareness' (Negri,
>>> 1989:138)."
>>>
>>> The two case studies discussed in the chapter 'Activity theory
>>> and Social
>>> Movements' are the 1990 anti-poll tax riots in Trafalgar Square
>>> and the
>>> Anti-war demonstration of February 2003 in London with over million
>>> demonstrators.
>>>
>>> The chapter also presents critique of activity theory and
>>> reflects on
>>> utility and limitations of it for the present analysis. (I
>>> think that this
>>> type of section is too often missing in CHAT inspired studies.)
>>>
>>> Why this contribution comes, what it seems, completely outside of
>>> the
>>> 'CHAT-field', is also an important question. Or has someone come
>>> across the
>>> author before?
>>>
>>> I hope she can join the discussion after people get the book in
>>> their
>>> hands. Bruce promised in the previous note to start it.
>>>
>>> Jonna
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> BRUCE ROBINSON kirjoitti 21.7.2008 kello 18.27:
>>>
>>> Like London buses, you wait a long time for writings on CHAT
>>> and radical
>>>> political consciousness and two come along at once (well,
>>>> nearly - Wayne
>>>> Au's paper on Lenin & Vygotsky has been out for about a year.)
>>>> I imagine
>>>> this takes a very different much more 'spontaneist' view of
>>>> the zoped. I
>>>> will get hold of a copy and post about it here. I haven't also
>>>> forgotten my
>>>> offering to write about Au and will when I get a bit more time.
>>>> Maybe a
>>>> comparison.
>>>>
>>>> Bruce R
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Phil Chappell"
>>>> <philchappell@mac.com
>>>>>
>>>> To: <xmca@weber.ucsd.edu>
>>>> Sent: Monday, July 21, 2008 12:26 AM
>>>> Subject: [xmca] New Book: Zones of Proletarian Development
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Apologies for cross-posting
>>>>> Phil
>>>>>
>>>>> New Book Information (An OpenMute Publication)
>>>>>
>>>>> Zones of Proletarian Development
>>>>> Mastaneh Shah-Shuja
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> In this book, Mastaneh Shah-Shuja presents a novel approach for
>>>>> the
>>>>> study-extension of the social movement. Employing conceptual tools
>>>>> from Marx,Vygotsky, Bakhtin and Activity Theory she examines the
>>>>> interaction
>>>>> of individuals within crowds in a variety of settings
>>>>> including London
>>>>> May Day celebrations, riotous Iranian carnivals, the anti-poll-tax
>>>>> rebellion, the
>>>>> great anti-war demonstration of 15 February 2003 and a number of
>>>>> historical and contemporary political organisations. She
>>>>> identifies
>>>>> ?zones of
>>>>> proximal development? (Vygotsky) where people learn from each
>>>>> other,
>>>>> solve
>>>>> social problems, develop consciousness and engage in collective
>>>>> meaning-
>>>>> making.
>>>>>
>>>>> Crucially, she demonstrates how capitalism is metamorphosing at a
>>>>> number of fronts simultaneously. She shows how new methods of
>>>>> exploitation and
>>>>> accumulation are being challenged by an emerging universal class
>>>>> unencumbered by some of the limitations of previous struggles. The
>>>>> reactionary
>>>>> nature of liberalism, social democracy, fascism and bolshevism are
>>>>> examined
>>>>> whilst the once-radical ideologies of left communism, council
>>>>> communism,
>>>>> anarchism,
>>>>> autonomist marxism, libertarian socialism and situationism are
>>>>> subjected to critical interrogation.
>>>>>
>>>>> Imaginatively presented, with a collection of illustrations, Zones
>>>>> of Proletarian Development captures the increasing complexities
>>>>> of the
>>>>> class struggle in the twenty-first century and offers concrete
>>>>> suggestions for organising against capitalism.
>>>>>
>>>>> Table of contents
>>>>> Introduction
>>>>> Chapter one - Epistemology, Methodology and Method
>>>>> Chapter two- Vygotskian May Days
>>>>> Chapter three- Iranian football riots as Bakhtinian
>>>>> carnivalesque
>>>>> Chapter four- Activity Theory and Social Movements: Two case
>>>>> studies
>>>>> Chapter five- Towards a new kind of revolutionary organising
>>>>> Appendix 1- Mindful Thuggery and the Spectacularisation of
>>>>> Drama
>>>>> Appendix 2- The Glorious Proletarian Siege of Oxford Street
>>>>> References
>>>>>
>>>>> Subjects:
>>>>> Political Science-History & Theory - Radical Thought;
>>>>> Psychology-Social Psychology;
>>>>> Social Science-Sociology - Social Theory
>>>>>
>>>>> ISBN: 978-1-906496-06-7 pbk.
>>>>> May 2008, 244x170 mm, c. 360 pages
>>>>> Recommended retail price: ?15/?21/$30
>>>>>
>>>>> Author's biography: Mastaneh Shah-Shuja is an independent
>>>>> researcher
>>>>> from an Afghani-Iraqi background although she has also lived
>>>>> extensively in both Iran and Russia. She is currently living in
>>>>> the
>>>>> United Kingdom with her two children. Mastaneh has been
>>>>> involved in
>>>>> anti-capitalist politics since her early teens. Please send
>>>>> reviews/
>>>>> comments to Mastaneh Shah-Shuja at: m.shahshuja {AT} yahoo.com
>>>>>
>>>>> This book can be ordered from all good bookshops including Amazon:
>>>>>
>>>>> For Amazon in UK go to
>>>>> http://www.amazon.co.uk/Zones-Proletarian-Development-Mastaneh-
>>>>> Shah-Shuja/dp/1906496064
>>>>>
>>>>> For Amazon in USA go to
>>>>> http://www.amazon.com/Zones-Proletarian-Development-Mastaneh-Shah-
>>>>> Shuja/dp/1906496064/ref=sr_1_1?
>>>>> ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1209735928&sr=1-1
>>>>>
>>>>> For Amazon in Canada go to
>>>>> http://www.amazon..ca/Zones-Proletarian-Development-Mastaneh-Shah-
>>>>> Shuja/dp/1906496064
>>>>>
>>>>> For Amazon in Japan go to
>>>>> http://www.amazon.co.jp/Zones-Proletarian-Development-Mastaneh-
>>>>> Shah-
>>>>> shuja/dp/1906496064/ref=sr_1_8/503-4060494-
>>>>> 3574325?ie=UTF8&s=english-books&qid=1209735460&sr=1-8
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Other bookshops you can order it from:
>>>>>
>>>>> The New Social Worker Online go to
>>>>> http://shop.socialworker.com/Poverty-11294-1906496064-
>>>>> Zones_of_Proletarian_Development.html
>>>>>
>>>>> Eruditor.com go to
>>>>> http://www.eruditor.com/books/item/9781906496067.html.en
>>>>>
>>>>> Blackwell go to
>>>>> http://bookshop.blackwell.co.uk/jsp/
>>>>> display_product_info.jsp;jsessio
>>>>> nid=9518B86EDF540D371C4B07D9AF52CB10.bobcatt1?isbn=9781906496067
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> ----- End forwarded message -----
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> xmca mailing list
>>>>> xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
>>>>> http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
>>>>>
>>>>
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Received on Thu Jul 24 07:50 PDT 2008