RE: [xmca] Applicability of CHAT to US society

["Peter Smagorinsky" <smago@uga.edu>]

Steve, thanks for your kind comments. In response to your request about
Engeström's keynote: Right now I have 2 articles I've been asked to review
for journals, so I don't think I can do the paper justice right now.
Following a brief skim of his talk, I would want to make clear that I don't
find fault with activity theory, I just think that it's not what I do. I've
always found Jim Wertsch's work to be highly relevant to what I'm interested
in, and I think it's because of his focus on mind in society rather than on
collective activity-in-the-setting itself as the foregrounded unit of
analysis. So to me it's a matter of orienting yourself to the perspective
that fits, rather than finding fault with those less proximal to your view.


Peter Smagorinsky
The University of Georgia
125 Aderhold Hall
Athens, GA 30602
smago@uga.edu/phone:706-542-4507
http://www.coe.uga.edu/lle/faculty/smagorinsky/index.html


-----Original Message-----
From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu [mailto:xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu] On
Behalf Of Steve Gabosch
Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2009 6:12 PM
To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
Subject: Re: [xmca] Applicability of CHAT to US society

Great review, Peter, a genuine delight to read and think about.  I found it
both inspiring and inspired - full of ideas and points I want to add to,
modify, critique, agree with, ponder, look into more deeply.  I have read
some of the articles in the CCV, and now I want to study all of them.

Among many topics you cover - (and I didn't find the review too long, I
found it too short!) - your critical comments on activity theory of course
are especially interesting, as Richard emphasizes.  I think you and Richard
do have a valid point - activity theory does have the challenge of learning
how to both theorize and apply itself to high- conflict, highly competitive
situations, such as we seem to be increasingly finding across the US, and in
truth, everywhere, including Finland.  Can cultural-historical activity
theory meet this challenge?

Yrjo deals with a number of questions about and criticisms of activity
theory in the paper that he presented at ISCAR 2008, "THE FUTURE OF ACTIVITY
THEORY: A ROUGH DRAFT", attached below.

Would you be willing to provide some critical commentary on his thoughts?

- Steve


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