I thini it is important to separate out material changes of a community from helping that community reorganize the ways that they make decisions about how to make those changes and what those changes should be. The former demands somebody should be a legitimate participant while the latter not necessarily so, and may actually benefit from input of somebody who is not a legitimate participant to help break the group out of habits of thought. This is something I think that runs across most variations of action research. To take a current example - if I am in a community that believes that a certain type of education gives individual special insight into economic decision making I will keep listening to that person, even if that person is wrong over and over again. The members of the community know something is wrong but don't know how to break out of it. They engage in some form of social action to broaden the base of economic decision making, to in Lewin's word limit gatekeeping on economic decision, but it does not work. They decide to approach somebody who has some experience in breaking the decision making logjam. These "outsiders" are able to offer new perspectives on decison making, but not the particular problem itself, perhaps helping to switch it from technocratic to more particpatory democracy. Lewin I think called this an unfreezing of habits. But once this is done the outsiders invited in step back and the members of the community can use this new dynamism to create solutions for their community. There is I suppose then a legitimate place for outsiders because sometimes communities are trapped in the box of their own culture and history. Michael ________________________________ From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu on behalf of mike cole Sent: Tue 7/17/2012 10:49 PM To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity Subject: Re: [xmca] Understanding is no method but rather a form ofcommunication Martin-- If one is not a member of the group, a legitimate participant of Rank N, how can one understand the whole (which is matches the problem of being entirely inside the group, which precludes knowing the whole)?? mike On Tue, Jul 17, 2012 at 5:50 PM, Martin Packer <packer@duq.edu> wrote: > Peter, > > This is one of the topics, and a point of disagreement, in the debate > between Gadamer and Habermas. The question gets framed as whether one needs > something more than the ability to participate in a community of practice > in order to conduct research that is transformative, emancipatory. (Not all > action research tries to do this, of course.) Gadamer argued that the > potential for critique and change is immanent in the practices. Habermas > argued that the researcher needs something more. He has changed his > position on what exactly this is over the course of his career; his first > proposal was that the researcher needs a theory of the distortions that > exist in everyday practical activity in order to critique them and change > them. I tend to think of it as a claim that a researcher needs something > that few if any participants have - a sense of the whole. > > Martin > > On Jul 17, 2012, at 2:39 PM, Peter Smagorinsky wrote: > > > So, just wondering, if action research is truly a bottom-up activity, > why go to theorists to justify it? > > > > Peter Smagorinsky<http://www.coe.uga.edu/~smago/vita/vitaweb.htm> > > Distinguished Research Professor< > http://www.ovpr.uga.edu/docs/policies/iga/DRP-Guidelines.pdf> of< > http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/of> English Education< > http://www.coe.uga.edu/lle/english/secondary/index.html> > > Department of Language and Literacy Education< > http://www.coe.uga.edu/lle/english/secondary/index.html> > > The University of Georgia<http://www.uga.edu/> > > 309 Aderhold Hall<http://www.coe.uga.edu/about/directions.html> > > Athens<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athens,_Georgia>,< > http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/607/02/> GA< > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_(U.S._state)> 30602< > http://www.city-data.com/zips/30602.html> > > > > Advisor, Journal of Language and Literacy Education< > http://jolle.coe.uga.edu/> > > Follow JoLLE on twitter @Jolle_uga > > > > From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu [mailto:xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu] > On Behalf Of Martin Packer > > Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2012 2:23 PM > > To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity > > Subject: Re: [xmca] Understanding is no method but rather a form of > communication > > > > Hi Larry, > > > > I think Gadamer made a valuable contribution to the philosophy and > theory of hermeneutics, and showed the importance of interpretation in all > fields. But there are, to my thinking, limitations to his analysis that > suggest to me that one has to turn elsewhere for a basis for action > research. Mainly, there is no place for systematic *mis*understanding in > Gadamer's hermeneutics. He presumes a community of like-minded people, > united in mutual understanding. it would be nice, I suppose, if life were > like that, but surely it is not. In most places there is 'an Other who *is* > an object for the subject,' to play with the words you quoted from Gadamer. > The debates between Gadamer and Habermas in the 1970s centered around the > issue of whether there is a place for critique in hermeneutics. > > > > Here's one good summary of the debate: > > Mendelson, J. (1979). The Habermas-Gadamer debate. New German Critique, > 18, 44-73. > > > > Martin > > > > On Jul 17, 2012, at 12:58 PM, Larry Purss wrote: > > > >> I have been reflecting on action research and the turn it took into > >> discussing voice, tone of voice, and the loss or extinguishing of voice > >> when others are marginalized. > >> > >> I came across this statement from Gadamer who wrote the foreword to the > >> book "Introduction to Philosophical Hermeneutics" by Jean Grondin. > >> > >> "So, understanding is no method but rather a form of community among > those > >> who understand each other. Thus a DIMENSION is OPENED up that is not > just > >> one among many FIELDS of inquiry but rather constitutes the PRAXIS OF > LIFE. > >> > >> Gadamer is exploring the 2nd person voice and putting it play with the > 1st > >> person and 3rd person voice. > >> > >> I wanted to abstract this dis-position towards the 2nd voice. I want to > now > >> embed this statement in its context. Gadamer wrote, > >> > >> "But it was only when Dilthey and his school gained influence on the > >> phenomenological movement that understanding was no longer MERELY > >> juxtaposed with conceptualization and explanation."[Gadamer, foreword] > >> > >> In other words, understanding came to be seen as constituting the very > >> fundamental structure of human becoming-in-the-world and moved to the > very > >> center of philosophy. > >> > >> "Thereby subjectivity and self-consciousness lost their primacy. Now > there > >> is an Other who is not an object for the subject - but someone to whom > we > >> are BOUND in the reciprocations of language and life. So, understanding > is > >> no method but rather a form of COMMUNITY among those who understand each > >> other. Thus a dimension is opened up that is not just one among many > fields > >> but rather constitutes the praxis of life." [Gadamer, foreword] > >> > >> Gadamer's tone of voice may have something to contribute to action > research. > >> > >> Larry > >> __________________________________________ > >> _____ > >> xmca mailing list > >> xmca@weber.ucsd.edu<mailto:xmca@weber.ucsd.edu> > >> http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca > > __________________________________________ > > _____ > > xmca mailing list > > xmca@weber.ucsd.edu<mailto:xmca@weber.ucsd.edu> > > http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca > > __________________________________________ > > _____ > > xmca mailing list > > xmca@weber.ucsd.edu > > http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca > > __________________________________________ > _____ > xmca mailing list > xmca@weber.ucsd.edu > http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca > __________________________________________ _____ xmca mailing list xmca@weber.ucsd.edu http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
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