[xmca] Incorporating "reflexivity" as a central concept

[Larry Purss <lpscholar2@gmail.com>]

I've been wondering about the relaion of "tacit" knowing to "reflexive"
knowing.
Christine, mentioned exploring Margaret Archer's work on the centrality of
the concept of reflexivity to her work in sociology.

Using  the technological access of the kindle allows wondering around
within the first chapter of multiple books to decide which books are worth
reading in depth.

Christine mentioned Archer's book "Becoming Human" but she has also written
a book "Making Our Way Through the World: Human Reflexivity and Social
Mobility" which explores liquid modernity through ist person narratives of
finding meaningful work and needing to be mobile to find work.

Through these ist person narratives she is developing her central focus on
"human reflexivity"

She locates reflexivity developmentally as an EMERGING PERSONAL power of
individuals that takes place within "internal conversation."  I wonder
where to locate this developing capacity for reflexivity within the
background reality of "tacit" knowing but that is a larger contextual
question.  The tacit knowledge is as central to becoming human as is the
question of EMERGING reflexivity.  However, Archer's exploration of the
centrality of reflexivity [once developed] is central to her project.
Archer's project is to bring back the centrality of human reflexivity into
the conversation once it has developed as a capacity.  She believes
reflexivity has been generally disregarded and is NOT entailed by routine
or habitual action. [which is also central as an aspect of dwelling in the
world]

Reflexivity for Archer is asking how central is the process of "internal
conversation" to our proceeding in the world?  The following definition is
how Archer uses the term reflexivity.

"Reflexivity is the regular exercise of the mental ability, shared by all
normal people, to consider themselves in relation to their (social)
contexts and vice versa.  Archer in this book is exploring the concrete
question of the place of reflexivity in deliberating on people's
occupational concerns and patterns of social mobility as a way of exploring
the centrality of reflexivity in becoming human.

Last comment. Reflexivity for Archer is a heterogeneous term. One example.
She suggests Mead's I-Me constellates a "looking backwards" reflexivity
[180 degree turn]  Pierce's I-YOU constellates a anticipatory "looking
forward" 180 degree turn.  COMBINING both Mead and Pierce develops a 360
degree circle of reflexivity.

That still leaves the ambivalence between habitual tacit processes and
reflexivity [structure and agency] but Archer has an interesting project
shes pursuing.

Archer has also edited a book "Conversations About Reflexivity Ontological
Explorations" which brings 11 other authors into the conversation.

Larry
__________________________________________
_____
xmca mailing list
xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca