[Xmca-l] Re: Activity Setting

["Cliff O'Donnell" <cliffo@hawaii.edu>]

Andy, regarding your points about material artifacts:

> I note that in Cliff's definition the material artefacts are never  
> named as part of culture, focussing instead on shared meanings.

	Please see the inclusion of artifacts on page 23 of our article:

"Culture is expressed in language, speech patterns, artifacts,
music, values, and behavioral norms. Different cultural
patterns can be considered variations displaying arrays of
human characteristics (Tharp 2007 –2008). ‘‘Culture, then,
is not about groups of people…  Rather, the focus should be
on the implicit and explicit patterns of meanings, practices,
and artifacts distributed throughout the contexts in which
people participate, and on how people are engaged,…  or
changed’’ (Markus and Hamedani 2007 , pp. 11–12). Cultural
communities, of course, are not static and shared
meanings evolve with changes in history and social,
political, and economic systems."

> The material foundation of collaboration is a very important aspect  
> of activity.

	No one is suggesting an absence of a material foundation in activity  
settings. They must exist in a physical environment. In the 1990  
chapter I referenced earlier, we analyzed activity settings "in terms  
of six components:  a physical environment, time, funds, positions,  
people, and symbols.  These components are the resources among which  
the activity of the setting is generated, maintained, and centered."

> I guess I take "community" as indexing all the people sharing that  
> culture through shared activities.

	On that point, we agree. We define community by shared activities.

	Cliff

Clifford R. O'Donnell, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus
Past-President, Society for Community Research and Action (APA  
Division 27)

University of Hawai‘i
Department of Psychology
2530 Dole Street
Honolulu, HI 96822