RE: [xmca] Access to articles and discussion

Hi -- I think that at just about every sociocultural-related conference I have been to, someone I've been talking with says that she reads XMCA but never speaks up. These are always people who are doing good work and have something that needs to be heard. Andy's right, Mike does the job of picking up the new voices. It's something we should each make an effort to do.

Helena

________________________________________
From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu [xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu] On Behalf Of Andy Blunden [ablunden@mira.net]
Sent: Monday, December 01, 2008 5:30 PM
To: Tamara Ball
Cc: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
Subject: Re: [xmca] Access to articles and discussion

Thanks Tamara.
Yes, I think the acknowledgment of new voices, when they
speak, is vital. Mike always does this, but I think it is
quite wrong for the rest of us to just leave that role to
Mike, who has enough to do. So, thanks!

Andy

Tamara Ball wrote:
> My humble suggestion is this:
>
> that those of you more experienced and comfortable with the XMCA
> discussion forum keep vigilant watch for new voices whenever they do
> emerge and then respond. Use the response also as a space for your own
> assertion, to be sure(perhaps one you would have made anyway), but even
> the notation of "re:" as the slightest acknowledgment of that new voice
> is alluring and validating. Any thoughtful response will do - but in my
> opinion, better if it is not only "sweet", encouraging or gentle but
> rather truly responsive and generative. In my own novice experience,
> intimidation is linked to a feeling of irrelevance which comes with the
> frayed edges of a thread that is not continued in some way or another.
> As Andy suggests, workload is always an issue of course, but I do
> understand that there are ways that participation in the parlance of
> this forum can actually *decrease* workload by creatively and
> expeditiously negotiating ideas or problems central to the work each of
> us has in front of us.
>
> For instance I am in heat of writing a grant proposal that I hope will
> lead to a multi-year post-doc position that will allow me to expand the
> work I am already involved with at the Center for Adaptive Optics (
> electro-engineering, astronomy and optometry research center with a
> strong education component). I can imagine exploring more powerful ways
> to shape the structure of that work through conversations here that are
> also linked to the more central debates at hand.
>
> Tamara
>
>
> On Nov 30, 2008, at 5:40 PM, Andy Blunden wrote:
>> Well I'm not one of those who vote and don't discuss but I am willing
>> to have a guess at issues here, and maybe people will be provoked into
>> correcting me?
>>
>> I have had brief discussions with several people either offline or via
>> FaceBook who have expressed an interest in xmca discussions but say
>> (basically) they are not clever enough to contribute. Having been
>> assured that this is absolutely not the case, they later go on to
>> become contributors. For some, it is that fear of speaking up and
>> maybe getting their heads bitten off. In other cases, I am sure, it is
>> a simple matter of the insanity of academic workloads already driving
>> people to the edge.
>>
>> I have racked my brain and failed to come up with a viable means of
>> resolving this, other than being civil and respectful in discussions.
>> When I asked about Bobath, someone who had never spoken before spoke
>> up saying "At last something I feel qualified to speak on." Likewise,
>> when I asked for help for my brother with his daughter's maths
>> problems, loads of really helpful and knowledgeable people spoke up.
>> But the general debate, people seem to find intimidating. And yet, in
>> my experience, unjustifiably so.
>>
>> Andy
>>
>> Mike Cole wrote:
>>> I fear that at present the article to be made available free for
>>> discussion
>>> at Taylor and Francis
>>> has not been released. The ever-lengthening duration of Thanksgiving
>>> holiday
>>> has probably not
>>> helped matters. Consequently, many, probabaly most, members of xmca
>>> do not
>>> have access to the
>>> article in question by Stetsenko and Sawchuk. We are working on it.
>>> The issue of discussion of article in MCA that are not made available
>>> free
>>> is even more difficult and we
>>> are working on that too. We have a situation where often two or more
>>> articles are ones that people want
>>> to discuss but we are unlikely to get T&F to offer the journal for
>>> free. So
>>> we are discussing with them
>>> the cost of electronic versions so that acces to people without the
>>> financial means to get access can
>>> be handled in a viable way.
>>> Simultaneously, I would not that more than 30 people voted to discuss the
>>> Sanino article, but to date, very
>>> few people have availed themselves of the opportunity they obtained
>>> for the
>>> group by their votes. I take
>>> this to be a problem and would appreciate suggestions for making XMCA
>>> a more
>>> multi-voiced forum for
>>> discussion. Might the overwhelming majority of people who voted for
>>> discussion of this article but who have
>>> failed to comment on it help me and others understand what is a foot.
>>> Is it
>>> amplification or amputation, perhaps some productive transformation,
>>> that is
>>> required
>>> The academic semester/quarter draws to a close in the United States. The
>>> stock market is open in Asia. The people of Mumbai, Peshewar, Ramadi,
>>> Eastern Congo, flood raviged Brazil and elsewhere bury their dead.
>>> The polar
>>> bears, I hear, are enjoying a cool winter, but word is sparse from
>>> that part
>>> of the world. The future beckons. What is that she is holding in her
>>> hand?
>>> Or is it behind our backs?
>>> mike
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> xmca mailing list
>>> xmca@weber.ucsd.edu <mailto:xmca@weber.ucsd.edu>
>>> http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
>>
>> --
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> Andy Blunden http://home.mira.net/~andy/ +61 3 9380 9435 Skype
>> andy.blunden
>> Hegel's Logic with a Foreword by Andy Blunden:
>> http://www.marxists.org/admin/books/index.htm
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>> xmca@weber.ucsd.edu <mailto:xmca@weber.ucsd.edu>
>> http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
>

--
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Andy Blunden http://home.mira.net/~andy/ +61 3 9380 9435
Skype andy.blunden
Hegel's Logic with a Foreword by Andy Blunden:
http://www.marxists.org/admin/books/index.htm
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