Re: [xmca] lave in mca

[Greg Thompson <greg.a.thompson@gmail.com>]

As an asides (but sufficiently noteworthy to send to all), consider also
Wayne Booth's book The Craft of Research.

Lovely discussion here, just wish I had more time to read/participate.

-greg

On Tue, Jul 10, 2012 at 9:25 AM, Larry Purss <lpscholar2@gmail.com> wrote:

> The discussion of research as *craft* and an apprenticeship has been
> explored.
> I want to turn to the openning of the article where Lave says the relation
> of person and world is continually being reconsidered in our research.
> I want to take a passage from Karen Barad's book,
>
> http://books.google.ca/books/about/Meeting_the_Universe_Halfway.html?id=4qYorOpfB6EC&redir_esc=y
>
> as a response to how to understand the research process. Karen is
> discussing the process of writing a book but I am going to substitute
> *research* where she uses *book* to unveil what may be the key to
> understanding research.
>
> "There is no single point in time that marks the beginning of this
> *research* nor is there an "I" who saw the project through from beginning
> to end, nor is *research* a process that any individual "I's" can claim
> credit for. In an important sense, it is not so much that I have written
> this *research*, as that it has written me.  Or rather, "we" have
> "INTRA-actively written each other ("intra-actively rather than the usual
> "inter-actively" since *research* is not a unidirectional practice of
> creation that flows from author to *methods*, but rather the practice of
> *research* is an iterative and mutually constitutive working out and
> reworking of *research* and *author*)  Which is not to deny my own AGENCY
> (as it were) but to CALL INTO QUESTION the nature of agency (and its
> presumed localization WITHIN individuals (whether human or nonhuman).
> Furthermore, entanglements are not isolated binary co-productions as the
> example of an author-*research* pair might suggest.  Friends, colleagues,
> students, and family members, multiple academic institutions, departments,
> and disciplines, the forests, streams, and beaches of the eastern and
> western coasts, the awesome peace and clarity of early morning hours, and
> much more were a part of what helped constitute this *research* and its
> *author*.
>
> I hope this poetic licence [linking research to writing] gives a flavour of
> how I read the QUESTIONs Jean Lave is proposing.  Her conversation was
> directed at a particular audience of *researchers* and she is challenging
> th binary formal/informal. I hope Karen Barad's answer [vented through my
> response] contributes to a generative CON-versation, or dialogue.
>
> Larry
>
>
>
>
>
> On Sun, Jul 8, 2012 at 8:43 AM, mike cole <lchcmike@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > I am attaching a pdf of an article by Ole Dreier which provides a kind of
> > precis of his book that Jean refers to.  The links to
> > the references to Gibson in her article in part draw upon Ingold, but
> Ole D
> > has book out on objects with Allan Costall that
> > make those links even clearer.
> >
> > I am seeking help on finding English language work by Gomes that Jean
> sites
> > with approval; its from a book in Portuguese which makes it a little
> > inaccessible to most of us.
> >
> > And for those of us who wonder what all of this has to do with CHAT,
> > consider the non-coincidence that Alexander Zaporozhets,
> > mentor to VP Zinchenko and part of the circle that included LSV, Luria,
> and
> > Leontiev, interacted considerably with the Gibsons.
> >
> > 6 degrees of separation?
> >
> > mike
> >
> > On Sun, Jul 8, 2012 at 7:40 AM, Forman, Ellice A <ellice@pitt.edu>
> wrote:
> >
> > > I agree with Mike. After reading Lave's article in MCA, I realized
> that I
> > > needed to read her new book to understand her position better. Lave, J.
> > > (2011). Apprenticeship in critical ethnographic practice. Chicago:
> > > University of Chicago Press. I'm just getting started reading it but
> I'm
> > > glad her article led me to it. She makes it clear that critical
> > > ethnographic practice does not pit writing against activism, as Mike
> > claims
> > > here. Here's one early salient quote:
> > >
> > > "Critical ethnography certainly is engaged in social criticsm and an
> > > integral concern for social justice . . . But critical ethnography has
> > > other entailments and layers of meaning as well. It involves a
> > relational,
> > > historical worldview and metaphysics that question a number of
> > commonsense
> > > understandings. It envisions ethnographic research as a long struggle
> to
> > > illuminate social life, challenge commonplace theories and their
> > political
> > > implications, and change theoretical practice in the process. This book
> > > pursues a more ample consideration of what we mean by critical
> > ethnographic
> > > practice." (p. 10)
> > >
> > > Right now I'm in the midst of exploring how Lave's early research on
> > > tailoring in Liberia led her to pursue these broader and deeper
> > > investigations of her own apprenticeship in critical ethnographic
> > practice.
> > >
> > > ________________________________________
> > > From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu [xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu] On
> > Behalf
> > > Of mike cole [lchcmike@gmail.com]
> > > Sent: Saturday, July 07, 2012 12:54 PM
> > > To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
> > > Cc: Jean Lave
> > > Subject: Re: [xmca] lave in mca
> > >
> > > Lave: Changing Practices
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > I think it would be a pity if xmca-ites settled for Peter’s
> > > characterization of Jean Lave’s article as a call to activism, and as
> > > pitting writing against activism. I did not interpret Jean’s comments
> as
> > a
> > > call to march in anti-war-de-jour activities, or join an occupy protest
> > to
> > > slow down corporate greed.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Peter commented, in part:
> > >
> > >  *Scribner took it to the streets, marching in the marches and such,
> and
> > > bully for her. I've got to weigh things differently, I suspect. If I go
> > > protest la guerre-du-jour, holding my sign at the campus gates, is
> this a
> > > cost-effective action? Or is getting my writing done more important,
> > > especially the public pieces that are read widely, if not terribly
> > > influentially, at least in terms of current policies? (but then,
> standing
> > > at the campus gates with a sign protesting wars or monied interests
> > > probably has limited payoff as well.) And in my very conservative area,
> > I'd
> > > no doubt pay an additional cost, such as the outcry against my activism
> > for
> > > causes that go against the grain of popular opinion.*
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Firstly, the general silence she identified (correctly or not, people
> who
> > > were there should comment, but it rings true enough to me) was the
> > absence
> > > of  “historical specificity and political analysis.”  She then linked
> her
> > > ideas to those of Gramsci in the following way:
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > *Gramsci’s political account of learning and education (and everything
> > > else) grew out of*
> > >
> > > *his analysis of the “absolute historicism” of philosophy of praxis. He
> > > pointed to the central engagement of state and private institutions of
> > > education in inculcating and defending dominant hegemonic relations of
> > > consent. That is not all that is going on in our complex contradictory
> > > world, of course. But because virtually all ISCAR participants do the
> > work
> > > of these institutions, we also need to carry out the political analysis
> > > that our positions call for.*
> > >
> > > * *
> > >
> > > None of Jean’s examples of the kind of changes in practice that she
> > > advocates focused on marching in the streets or challenging the guerre
> > (S!)
> > > du jour. They did, however, focus on a number of examples (Drier,
> Ingold,
> > > Gomes, Holland, and her own) all of which involve the scholar, as
> > scholar,
> > > engaging in critical analyses of current research practices within the
> > > professions of which they are a part.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Overall, the message that I took from the talk/essay was that those who
> > > adopt what locally we refer to as a CHAT perspective have commitments
> to
> > > grounding theory in practices that are supposed to put our theories to
> > the
> > > test. Her recommendation that we worry about educating the educators,
> > whose
> > > practice is education, seems to me completely uncontroversial. Her
> > positive
> > > cases seem uncontroversial as recognizable lines of scholarly research
> > some
> > > of which has been discussed in this forum (we should “take  seriously
> the
> > > understanding of research as craft, and of both learning and changing
> > > identity as aspects of craftsmanship" for example).
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > I do not know nearly enough about most of the examples that Jean holds
> up
> > > as potential models to follow. It seems that remedying my ignorance
> about
> > > those examples would be a productive place to start. For sure, the
> > serious
> > > problems facing all forms of education, but in the case of most of us,
> > > institutionally, the problems facing higher education, are acute and
> > > getting worse very rapidly. Jean’s summary of that situation seems to
> > line
> > > up with my own knowledge of events, but perhaps that is because we are
> > both
> > > present for the dismantling of what was once a great public university.
> > > Much less clear are lines of theory/practice research that would/could
> > make
> > > a difference.
> > >
> > >
> > > Anyway, there is a serious call here for a fundamental, critical,
> > > theory/practice orientation to our work. Answering this call IS a
> > political
> > > as well as an academic act. It may also be a warning that the
> privileged
> > > lifeworlds of academics that those of us over 30 years of age have
> > > experienced may be in danger of disappearing faster than the ozone
> layer.
> > >
> > > mike
> > >
> > > (Ps- sorry for the funny font gyrations. Cut and pasted from a word
> doc.)
> > >
> > > On Wed, Jul 4, 2012 at 6:00 AM, Peter Smagorinsky <smago@uga.edu>
> wrote:
> > >
> > > > I'm going to assume my unappointed role as discussion-launcher for
> the
> > > > Lave article in MCA that was voted as the feature discussion article
> on
> > > > xmca. I may not be able to stick around for long, as we're going on
> > > > vacation Saturday in hopes that somewhere on this earth we can find a
> > > place
> > > > that's not as hot as Georgia, USA.
> > > >
> > > > Lave's paper is based on her plenary closing talk at ISCAR in Rome,
> an
> > > > even I did not attend. As an aside, as long as it's held in
> > > mid-September,
> > > > shortly after our fall academic semester begins, I and others like me
> > > > probably won't attend. It's just too ill-timed to miss 1-2 weeks of
> > > > classes, depending on location, right after getting the semester off
> > the
> > > > ground.
> > > >
> > > > Lave references several ISCAR talks she found compelling, so it's
> nice
> > > for
> > > > us non-attenders to get a sense of what she found valuable in Rome.
> > > >
> > > > If there's an overriding theme to her paper, it might be that
> > > > cultural-historical researchers ought to be more involved in social
> > > > activism. I was struck while reading the paper by how she could
> easily
> > > have
> > > > used Silvia Scribner as her role model for the talk, even though SS
> > goes
> > > > unmentioned. A month or so when I wrote to the list about my reading
> of
> > > her
> > > > collected papers, I noted that her activism on the labor front
> probably
> > > cut
> > > > into her writing time, although perhaps her career was conducted
> before
> > > > electronic media made expectations for writing much greater-there
> were
> > > > fewer journals and fewer book publishers, and writing itself was much
> > > more
> > > > laborious (a point related to the recent discussion of writing) in
> that
> > > it
> > > > was often undertaken by pen, then retyped, and ultimately less
> amenable
> > > to
> > > > revision than it is these days.
> > > >
> > > > She urges social activism, although the paper is general enough to
> > allow
> > > > for individuals to take that appeal up in their own ways. Academics
> > are,
> > > to
> > > > some, "above" ideology, and so should avoid the fray; yet most of us
> > here
> > > > would agree with her point that all thinking is ideological, and so
> > being
> > > > an activist on important social issues is a natural extension of our
> > > work.
> > > > If we are all ideological in our thinking, research, and writing, and
> > if
> > > > social issues are shaped by ideology, should we not then contribute
> to
> > > the
> > > > shape of  social issues through what we know via scholarship? (and
> > how's
> > > > that for a Western logical syllogism.)
> > > >
> > > > Scribner took it to the streets, marching in the marches and such,
> and
> > > > bully for her. I've got to weigh things differently, I suspect. If I
> go
> > > > protest la guerre-du-jour, holding my sign at the campus gates, is
> > this a
> > > > cost-effective action? Or is getting my writing done more important,
> > > > especially the public pieces that are read widely, if not terribly
> > > > influentially, at least in terms of current policies? (but then,
> > standing
> > > > at the campus gates with a sign protesting wars or monied interests
> > > > probably has limited payoff as well.) And in my very conservative
> area,
> > > I'd
> > > > no doubt pay an additional cost, such as the outcry against my
> activism
> > > for
> > > > causes that go against the grain of popular opinion.
> > > >
> > > > I hope these concerns are not too concrete for Lave's fairly abstract
> > > > call-to-peaceful-arms about social activism. For those of us in
> fairly
> > > > conventional academic positions (Lave's seems to allow for much more
> > > travel
> > > > than mine), activism has to be balanced against other considerations
> > and
> > > > demands on our time and local reputations. At this point, I'm more
> > > > persuaded by the general thrust of her views than of possibilities
> for
> > > > real-world activism whose consequences are greater than I can produce
> > > > through my writing.
> > > >
> > > > OK, there you go, your turn.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > __________________________________________
> > > > _____
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> > > >
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> > > _____
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> > > xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
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> >
> > __________________________________________
> > _____
> > xmca mailing list
> > xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
> > http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
> >
> >
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>



-- 
Gregory A. Thompson, Ph.D.
Sanford I. Berman Post-Doctoral Scholar
Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition
Department of Communication
University of California, San Diego
http://ucsd.academia.edu/GregoryThompson
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